Finn is 8 Months!

Can you believe my baby is 8 months? In just 4 short months we will be celebrating his first birthday. That is CRAZY!




Just in the past two days, Finn has started holding his own bottle. It's pretty much impossible to hold him and feed him a bottle anymore, that boy is on the MOVE. So he just drinks his bottle in between crawling all over the place. It's actually kind of nice, I can just put him in his exersaucer or on the floor and hand him a bottle. But it's also a little sad because he doesn't want to be cuddled anymore. It's ok - I'll have my newborn baby fix come November when one of my close friends has baby #3. 


It's interesting to see how different siblings are, especially when they are the same sex. Jack ALWAYS finished his bottles, we were giving him four 8 oz bottles by the time he was 8 months. We are lucky if Finn finishes one. He's all over the place. But when it comes to scarfing food that is put on his tray for dinner, that is no problem!Jack was such loud giggler and laugher and Finn he is all smiles and he makes those dinosaur squeals, but his laughs sounds like a squeaky toy. Like he only makes noise when he inhales and it's super high pitch. It's the funniest thing ever. I've tried to capture it on video, but it hasn't worked yet.I used to say that 4 or 5 months was my favorite baby stage, but I think I like the 8-9 month stage better. They are just more independent. And once Finn starts walking, I'm screwed. So I'll enjoy this as much as I can right now. 


In other news, Jack is still doing great in his bed. He still screams for me to come get him in the morning, but I'm totally fine with that. Yesterday morning, we all slept in until 8:30! It was heavenly. Well, Finn was up at 6 AM, but I just put him in the pack n play in the basement. He always goes right back to bed down there. Maybe I just make that his room.


This weekend, Tom and I are going on our first overnight date since Finn has been born. Actually, I can't 
remember the last overnight date we had even before Finn was born! We are staying at the Graves601 hotel 
downtown and we have gift cards to Seven Sushi. We are going to have an awesome time downtown and we are so excited. It's much needed! Jack and Finn will spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa Starkey's house. We are going to bring side rails for the queen sized bed for Jack to sleep in and Finn will be in the pack n play. They love going over to their house, I know they will have a great time!




Tonight - is CARRIE UNDERWOOD with my girl, Alissa. Here's to hoping we don't get down poured on! 
Can't wait!


PS - be on the watch for a new blog design coming soon :-)

Hot Mess

My blog design got messed up when I tried to change one thing and now it looks like a hot mess. I have no idea what I'm doing or what I want the background to look like. Someone please help me :-)

Flash Me Friday - Dishes!

That's right people, Flash Me! Friday is back! Whoo hooo. This week's flash - YOUR DISHES. Want to participate? Just hop on over to Jen's Blog

Here are our dishes



Nothing fancy, just simple. We have china that we got for our wedding too - but they are still in the boxes from our wedding four years ago. Some day, I know we will use it. It would be nice to have some sort of hutch to display it too, it's very elegant.




Here is a view of the two cupboards that hold our every day dishes. If you look closely, you can see that the very top of the right side is a bit discombobulated. This is because I cannot reach this shelf. HA HA HA





I just have show my fun dishes too. I love me some corn on the cob!





And here are Jack and Finn's dishes :-)





Have a great weekend everyone. I'm off to see Wicked this Saturday and Carrie Underwood on Tuesday! Yeah!!!!

Brotherly Love

Jack just adores Finn and Finn is obsessed with Jack. Nobody can make Finn smile or laugh the way his brother can. I love watching them interact.

Here they are with their sweet hockey sticks (they are even lefty's just like Jack - well Tom thinks aka prays he's a lefty). I just noticed Jack is flicking off the camera, nice.




Here is Finn laughing at Jack





And here are some randoms I took outside earlier today

A Perfect Day, A Big Boy Bed, and Potty Training

Tuesday was the Big Day - the 2nd Annual Brendan Loney Golf Classic and it couldn't have gone better. We had a picture perfect day - 80 degrees and sunny with no humidity and a light breeze. There was a great turn out and I know my brother had an amazing time, as did I. It was just so much more fun than last year, more of a celebration. Last year it was amazing, because it had been a little over a month since the accident and to just see all of the support that my family had amazed me. This year, it was just celebrating and coming together with everyone who has helped my family get through the past year. Next years is sure to be just as good :-) I took a ton of pictures and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them all - but I'll give you a sneak peak of just a few!























In other news - we took Jack's side railing off of his crib last night and he did great. He fell out twice, but stayed sleeping. hA! I just plopped him back in bed. This morning, Finn was up a little earlier than usual and so he woke Jack up. Jack hasn't really discovered he can move about his room freely yet and I'm hoping that he never does...oh wait. He's been singing twinkle twinkle for the last 25 minutes, but I still have high hopes he will nap....or not. I also bought some big boy underwear. We put them on this morning and he peed through them twice and didn't even care. UGH. Anyone want to potty train my son for me? Please?!?!

Jack's First Movie and a birthday party!

On Friday, my friend Kelly and her two girls (ages 3 1/2 and 2 1/2) asked if Jack and I wanted to tag along to the movie Shrek 3, at least I think it was the 3rd one? Anyway, I dropped Finn off with Grandma Loney and we were off. I was a tad nervous being that Jack doesn't sit still for anything, but I knew he'd enjoy it. Kel was supermom and brought snacks galore for the kiddos. We put those three in the middle of us and the kids did great. Ruby was obviously the best and the most engaged in the movie. Hailey and Jack could have left after about 45 minutes. But we made it through and Jack talked about it all night long! So fun.


Today we had our neighrbor's, Madison, fourth birthday party. They rented one of these





Here is a picture of the birthday girl





Jack had a hay day.








Tom enjoyed it too









We had a fabulous weekend and are sad that it's come to an end, but we are SOOOO excited for the 2nd Annual  
Brendan Loney Classic on Tuesday!

Marriage

This summer has been so busy and so fun. It wouldn't feel like a true summer if there weren't some weddings thrown into the mix though, right? Tom has been a groomsman in two of the weddings this summer. I love sitting in the church right before the wedding starts. It brings back the anticipation I had on my wedding day over four years ago. The excitement, the emotions, months of planning for this one special day. I enjoy weddings so much more now that I am married because I understand what it means to be a married couple. When you are up at the altar with your soon to be spouse, you are excited. You aren't thinking about all of the challenges that are headed your way,  you are living in the moment, in your fairytale. 


On these couple's wedding day, as I listen to them say their vows, it gives me the goosebumps. "For better or for worse...all the days of my life...until death parts us." Maybe it's because my love for Tom has soared to a completely different level in these last four  years. Maybe it's because I am excited for these couples to experience an awesome kind of love, the kind that Tom and I have. Maybe it's because I have seen my parents stick together during some incredibly trying times. I don't know what it is, but it doesn't matter.  What matters is that there is love. I'll be the first to admit that marriages, or relationships for that matter, are no piece of cake. And when you throw a bundle of kids into the picture, it gets even harder. But it's worth it, it's worth every little bit. 


As I've said before, I've never really dealt with any sort of tragedy in my life before my brother's accident. But his accident has changed my entire outlook on life. I am sure that this happens with other people who lose their loved ones, or who have chronic illnesses, or who cope with cancer, or I suppose really any daily struggle. And I can't help but think while these couples are saying their vows, "will you still love them if they are in a wheelchair, will you sick by their side if they have cancer or develop a chronic illness?" I mean you can't live your life constantly worrying about the "what if's" but when you look at it, that is what these vows are saying. And they hit me a lot harder now. Anyway, a wedding day is beautiful and filled with smiles, friends and family. But a marriage - well, a marriage completes you. At least it completed me (well you think you are complete, and then you have children and that is just the icing on the cake) :-)


On a lighter note, Finn is crawling up the stairs.

History of the "Broken Man"

The "broken man" was adopted as the Craig Rehabilitation Hospital logo in the 1960's. It symbolized the rehabilitation process: helping people with disabilities to resume their life with quality following a spinal cord or brain injury.


When Craig moved and was re-built on the Swedish campus in 1970, the symbol was Inscribed on the building found adjacent to our main entrance.


In 1974, the word "rehabilitation" was dropped due to changes in the healthcare industry. New letterhead design was then adopted to symbolize this new chapter in the hospital's life.


Many staff and patients have come to appreciate Craig Hospital's reputation for helping individuals and their families put broken lives back together, in psychological, spiritual, and physical terms. This symbol illustrates the continued commitment by the hospital towards this goal.




My brother bought all of us "Loney" ladies a necklace with this symbol on it for Christmas. I wear mine almost every day. So now you know the story behind it next time you see it! I love it!

Road Construction

For the record, as I type this - the walls of my house are literally shaking. A few weeks ago, this is what was happening on our street:





They started to tear a part our road. We knew it was coming, our street was phase 3 and we'd driven past phase 1 and 2. Not too excited, but we had a ton of potholes so that will be nice to get rid of.


Jack is OBSESSED with trucks, tractors, dirt, anything HUGE!, ha. So he is very entertained throughout the days and on our walks, although it's been so stinking hot lately we haven't really taken many walks or runs. When Jack hears a truck or tractor, he instantly runs to the front door, slams his hands into it and says "OH MY GOSH. It's a HUGE truck Mommy." Then sometimes, he opens the door just a crack and says "Hey guys, what's going on" ha ha. What a hoot. Luckily, the noise hasn't interfered with naptime too much. I wasn't concerned about Finn, since he is still naping in the dungeon. ha ha. Here are some pics I snapped of them last week.

Busy Weekend, Big Boy!

We had another crazy, yet fun weekend. We had some friends over Friday night, always a good time! Then Saturday morning was swimming lessons bright and early (I was in the water this time and Jack STILL loved it). It's so much fun watching him have so much fun, definitely worth the money. Then we were off to Tristan Starkey's first birthday party. Fun times with family. Then we had a friend's wedding to attend. My mom came over to our house to watch the boys and my brother and dad came over for a while too. Fun fun fun. Then today was a LAZY day. We ran to Target this afternoon (I know, weird because I am never there...oh wait). We decided to bring Finn in without his car seat. He can sit up by himself no problem, but we just wanted to see how he'd do. He looked so little, but so stinkin cute! Here, see for yourself (taken from our phone camera).





He's getting to be SUCH a big boy. Eating people food like it's no one's business, constantly snacking on cheerios, drinking water out of a sippy cup, pulling himself up and getting into EVERYTHING. It's a lot of work, but it's so much fun. I love my boys. Is it weird that I want to start planning his first birthday and Jack's 3rd birthday parties already? I am a freak. OMG, Jack is going to be THREE soon.


We are counting down the days until the 2nd Annual Brendan Loney Golf Classic. We are all so excited. Thank you to everyone who has signed up and who is going to be there on that special day. You really have no idea what it means to me, to my family, just have you there. And also thank you to all of the awesome donations we've gotten for the Silent Auction that night. Although the deadline has passed for the golf, dinner, and silent auction - if you still want to help my brother out by donating to his Supplemental Needs Trust account, I'd be more than happy to give you that information.


Have a great week everyone.

Too Soon

Yesterday morning while I was getting ready in the bathroom, Finn decided to pull himself up and start pushing Jack's potty chair. I was floored. Please stop I thought. Then today while Jack and I were reading his new books from the library, I look in the kitchen and saw Finn doing this....(I grabbed my camera because I knew people wouldn't believe me that he's already doing this) and don't mind my cheesy voice! 







PS - yes he did fall at the end and bang his head on the floor. I know, I know - mother of the year, right?

New Wheels

The lease on my Honda was up and we had released it the maximum amount of times. So we had to either buy it or give it back. After a lot of research, test drives, and discussions we opted to buy a 2007 Nissan Murano. We got the Murano (Murry) on Friday and we LOVE it! Can I just say that having a car where the seat actually moves up higher so I can see over the steering wheel and out the windows is like a whole new world for this short girl. And don't even get me started on having pedals that move towards the seat for these short legs. Ahhhhhh. And trunk space where if I forget to take out the double stroller before I go grocery shopping, it's not the end of the world. Ahhhhhh.


How do I look in my new wheels?