Counting

You might want to pause the automatic music at the bottom of the blog before playing this, so you can hear! Jack loves to count everything.

Momnesia

Sorry for the lack of posts, I'm still recovering from momnesia. Don't know what momnesia is? Don't try looking it up in the dictionary, it's not there yet. But someday it will be. For now, I'll give you this definition: the mental fuzziness and memory lapses that set in shortly after childbirth. And it doesn't go away, at least that's my excuse for forgetting things or saying stupid things. Two mornings this week when I've tried making coffee, I forgot to put the coffee in. So when I go to pour my first cup of the day - it's clear. idiot. I say a few choice words under my breath so Jack won't hear (if he does, he's sure to repeat them) and start over. Two times in one week, are you kidding me? Momnesia. I would have just opened up a pop to get my caffeine, but I gave that up for Lent.

Brothers

Seven Quick Takes

1.

I leave for sunny Arizona with my mom in TWO days. We are staying at a five star resort and spa. This trip was planned by Tom and my dad without telling us. At first we were in shock. My mom and I were planning on going somewhere in March, once Tom's hockey was over - but apparently that wasn't soon enough for my dad and Tom. Ha. I am very excited now, I'm just stressing a little bit about Finn. It's not that I am nervous to leave him - it's just I'm not leaving him with just Tom. Tom has hockey all weekend so we have called upon some family and friends to help us out with the boys. I know they will be in great hands - but Finn is SOO fussy and I just feel bad that others are going to have to put up with it. I hope Tom gives them all the tricks of the trades we've figured out with our little monster.

2.

Speaking of our little monster - I've finally figured out how to calm him down during the day. Swaddle him like a maniac and put him in the bouncer and bounce the crap out of it. The only downfall is that you can't stop bouncing it. ha. Although right now, he's sleeping and I'm not bouncing him. That's probably because he's so worn out from screaming his lungs out while we went to costco and target this morning. This kid doesn't even calm down in the car - somebody help!!!

3.

Tom and I have chosen Finn's Godparents! We are so excited about our decision. We chose my brother and our good friend Alissa Wachter. I think they are both excited about it - I know we are! We were planning on having my brother be this child's Godfather even before his accident, but since his accident - it has reassured us that he will be an amazing role model (and not just spiritually) for not only Finn, but Jack as well. We chose Alissa because she has always had such an incredible relationship with God, even in the darkest hours. Alissa and I have been friends for a very long time and she is someone that I've always been able to turn to. We decided that we would rather have a private ceremony than one with other children. It will have to be after the Lenten season, so we are hoping for sometime in April, possibly May. I feel so blessed that both our boys have such awesome Godparents!!

4.

Tom's hockey season is almost over. Actually, when I get back on Sunday - the JV team will be done! Of course Tom will still go to all of the varsity playoff games and whatnot, but that's nothing compared to what he's had. He thinks there is a good chance that Wayzata will make it to state. That would be awesome! I think that Tom's enjoyed coaching. Of course being a part of the Varsity team would be more intense and whatnot, but you gotta start somewhere, right? It's been extremely difficult for me though - but it wasn't just the hockey coaching. It was the coaching plus his men's league, plus his work trips to vegas, his pond hockey weekend, all ontop of having a newborn baby and a 2 year old. I'm not gonna lie - I felt like a single mother most of the time. But Tom was so great during my freak out sessions and he calmed me down. He did so many middle of the night feedings to make up for not helping out with other things, and that was so nice for me. I'm totally on board if Tom wants to stick with the Wayzata JV team next year, I mean it can't get any worse...well unless I had another baby next December. OMG people, that will not happen.

5.

I am super obsessed with Apple's Macbook Pro. I've played around on some of my friend's and I am trying to convince Tom that I need one. I know, I know I don't need one, but I want one really really bad. I know that I would get so much use out of it. Just researching all of the amazing things you can do with it gets me so excited. And the organization it could bring to my already freakishly organized life makes me happy inside. I think I have a little OCD inside me. I'm probably going to start working back up at RJA next week (sigh) so I think I will put a little of each paycheck aside and start saving up. These puppies are expensive. But from what i've heard - they are worth it! I love everything about Apple.

6.

I have to dedicate number six to the bachelor. He is such a loser. Seriously ABC, you could have done so much better. I have this feeling inside me he's going to pick Vienna even though Tenley is the way better choice. But Tenley could do WAY better, so I hope he does choose Vienna - the cross eyed double decker. Alissa calls her double decker because when she talks you can see both rows of her teeth. hahaha. I hope Ali is the next bachelorette. She's always been my fav.

7.

On Sunday I went running outside for the first time in over a year! I did two miles. My legs were totally fine, it's just my lower stomach muscles I used while giving birth that still hurt! Hopefully I can keep up this trend of running outside before I have to actually start training for the half marathon. Yikes.

GAC Welcomes Home Brendan!

Friday night was a very special night for my brother and my family. At the Gustavus hockey game, they welcomed Brendan back "home" to school. It was Bren's first time visiting Gustavus since he was there last Spring as a student. My parents and him got there early on so he could chat with old classmates and friends. Tom and I got there with the boys later on, and it was so great to see Bren back with his buddies - laughing and just hanging out. We didn't go into the actual ice arena until right before they spoke about Brendan. When I walked into the arena on the main floor and saw that arena packed with students (all wearing black for the "blackout" against Hamline) wearing bandanas in support of my brother, banners letting Bren know how much he's been missed - my heart melted and my eyes filled up with tears.

This is all for my brother, he has already made an impact on this many people. wow. After hockey warm-ups, right before the national anthem, they spoke about my brother and his accident, and then Bren wheeled out on the ice with his closest gustie buds. The whole arena roared when the saw Bren. At one point while they were waiting for Bren to come out, people chanted "Brendan Loney, Brendan Loney." They honored Bren with a gold jersey with his number 23 - the same ones the team was wearing that night, that he proudly wore throughout the rest of the game. There were a few news channels that wanted to do a story about Brendan, so they agreed. Bren wasn't comfortable being interviewed, but my parents did a great job. To see the WCCO interview - click HERE

All in all, it was a great day for my entire family. I'm not sure if going back to Gustavus made Bren want to go back there and finish or not. Gustavus has been so great to my family during this difficult time. Brendan was blessed to be a student there and I know they will take extra good care of him if he decides to return. I know Bren can do anything he wants to do, and I think he is slowly starting to believe that. It's hard to not dwell on all of the things that could have been for Bren, but there is no reason to do that and I feel like we are all slowly moving forward and looking ahead. As much as it sucks to deal with all of the changes - God doesn't let things like this happen to people who can't deal with it. So even when we all think like we can't get through it, we have trust that God will be there to help guide us.

We finally got Jack to take rides with Brendan at my parent's house. I warned Brendan that once Jack started taking rides, he wouldn't want to stop. Sure enough, Jack kept asking him for more rides once he would get down. ha ha. Think of all of the fun/scary/dangerous things that are going to be done with that wheelchair and my two boys in the future. Uh-Oh!!

Here are some other pics from Friday night:

Elmo's Song

Here is Jack singing the Elmo Song.

Wordless Wednesdays

Day 3

This morning was day 3 of the Shred. I love that it's so short, but man oh man it's intense. I think I'll be ready for level 2 in a few days. Right now my biggest struggle is figuring out when to actually do it. I'm the type of person that just likes to get things done, so working out in the morning is usually the best. Jack, Finn and I usually get up for the day around 8 or 8:30, and typically after Finn eats, he will want to nap again. Well not the case this morning. I got him sleeping (while holding him) and then put him in the swing and started the dvd. (Jack jumps up and down with me when we do jumping jacks, so he doesn't mind when I work out, ha). Well right after the warm up - Finn was fussing, then screaming. So I paused the dvd, picked him up and got him to drift off and went back to the workout. Fussing and screaming started 2 min later, so I paused the dvd and consoled him for a minute or two and then went back to Jillian. This entire fussing situation was repeated about 5 times, before I said screw it. I knew Finn was just overly tired - he had a dry diaper, just ate, blah! I knew that if I didn't continue on with the workout, it wouldn't get done today. So I restarted the dvd and let him cry. The little stink bomb screamed for 20 minutes and then fell asleep. The workout is 27 min long. So frustrating. Now they are both napping and I got to shower, that was the highlight of my day thus far. Finn is lucky his smiles are so cute, otherwise I don't know how I'd manage!

Snow Snow Go Away

Anyone else sick of the snow? Yesterday Tom took Jack sledding in our neighbor's back yard. Tom said right when they would get to the bottom of the hill, Jack would say "more, more." I got some good pictures of them in our front yard.

Tom and I got to go out to dinner ALONE on Saturday night. We went to Biaggi's, it was delish. I actually had a really great weekend. Friday night I went out with my girlfriends - to a movie and drinks. Finn slept Friday night until 4:30 (but that trend has not continued, sad)! Saturday morning, I got my hair done (love it, Mel!). Saturday afternoon Tom was at hockey and I got both boys napping at the same time and took a 2 hour nap with them! Saturday night was date night (thanks to my parents and brother!). And yesterday Tom's family came over for the superbowl. Oh and yesterday Tom and I started our thirty day SHRED with Jillian. YIKES. It's so hard, but so good. I have some doubts I will be able to do 30 days in a row. Yikes.

Finn is still proving to be a pretty fussy baby. I know we were blessed with Jack being so easy and I know Finn could be a lot worse, but it is still really frustrating. Thank goodness Jack has been so amazing with this whole transition, otherwise I would be in the Looney Bin. I'm just ready for him to be content sitting in his bouncy or on the floor when he's awake. I swear he's only happy when someone is holding him and bouncing, eating, or sleeping. Welcome to the world of a 6 week old, right?

THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES...

Six married men will be dropped on an island
with one car and
3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports
and take either music or dance classes.

There is no fast food.

Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean,
correct all homework, complete science projects,
cook, do laundry,and pay a list of 'pretend' bills
with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money
for groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays
of all their friends and relatives,
and send cards out on time--no emailing.

Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment,
a dentist appointment, and a haircut appointment.

He must make one unscheduled and
inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care.

He must also make cookies or cupcakes
for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for
decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside,
and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television
when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

The men must shave their legs,
wear makeup daily,
adorn themselves with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet
stylish shoes, keep fingernails polished,
and eyebrows groomed.

During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure
severe abdominal cramps, back aches, head aches,
have extreme, unexplained mood swings
but never once complain or slow down from other duties.

They must attend weekly school meetings
and church, and find time at least once
to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.

They will need to read a book to the kids
each night and in the morning, feed them,
dress them, brush their teeth and
comb their hair ...
all by 7:00 a.m.

A test will be given at the end of the
six weeks, and each father will be
required to know all of the following information:
each child's birthday, height, weight,
shoe size, clothes size, doctor's name,
the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth,
and length of labor,each child's favorite color,
middle name, favorite snack, favorite song,
favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear,
and what they want to be when they grow up.

The kids vote them off the island based
on performance.

The last man wins only if...
he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse
at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win,
he can play the game over and over and over again
for the next 18-25 years, eventually earning the right
to be called Mother!

Protective Big Brother

We had our good friends Spanky, Mel and their daughter, Greta, over last Friday night. Greta is almost one! We tried to get a picture with all of the kids and apparently Jack has gotten quite protective over his baby brother. Here are the photos, not the best quality - but you need to keep pictures like these around for when they grow up!

Get out of here Greta!

Seriously, leave me and my brother alone.

No girls allowed. Greta is like, dude - wtf?

Peace out dudes - you are lame

It's OK Binn, I will protect you

Love you brother

Two Year Old Confusion

Jack: (pointing to an orange in his book) Dat apple
Me: No buddy that's an orange
Jack: Orange apple, ok?
Me: No it's an orange orange.

How do you explain to a two year old that orange is not only a color, but a fruit too-one that looks a lot like an apple?

Jack is talking up a storm and it just cracks me up. I'll try to get a video of some of the funny things he says.