Finn's Turn

I tried to ask Finn some questions yesterday. ha.




Talking to my kids is like pulling out teeth. If you were to see me somewhere and say hi to either Jack or Finn, I'm willing to bet you a million dollars they wouldn't respond to you. Every day when we enter school, Jack's teachers say "good morning, Jack, how are you today" and every day no response from Jack. When I pick Jack up from school, I always ask him if he had a good day. He will respond yes. Then in the car I will say something like, what did you do at school or what did you have for a snack today. And he will respond, I don't know. I don't remember. SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Old Videos and Thoughts about Kindergarten

I added some new videos on YouTube and started watching some really old ones. This one is when Finn was 7 months old (younger than Leo right now) and when Jack was 2 1/2. I love this video so much. hahaha. I can't believe Finn was doing this at 7 months.

Then there is this one of Jack singing




I need to take more videos I think. I'll get on that this week, if my kids will cooperate. We are off to the dentist today for Jack and Finn. I'm a tad nervous that Finn is going to FLIP out and that they both will have a mouthful of cavities. Let's hope that is not the case.

In the next few weeks I should be hearing about Kindergarten for Jack Attack. After long months of discussions, researching, and speaking with other parents we have opted to send Jack to the public schools, the school slotted for our neighborhood and we are attempting to get him into the All Day Kindergarten option. I hate how there are a bazillion different options that we had to decide on. There are so many private/charter/magnet schools now, and you can open enroll to any school in the district if you don't want your neighborhood school, etc etc. It came down to a few things - A) If our kids were going to attend private schools, they would attend a Catholic School. We just aren't sold on our church's school, or any of the closer ones to us (except Providence Academy - but unfortunately we are not millionaires) and we think that our district has wonderful public schools. B) We want our kids riding the bus or walking with our neighbors. I think, as a parent, it's nice to have your kids go to school with the neighborhood kids (even though I'm sure not everyone in our neighborhood sends their kids to the neighborhood school) - the neighbors that we really like and are close with do, so I think that is huge. C) Jack is attending preschool for 2.5 hours every day of the week. If we did just half day kindergarten, it would be no different than now. I mean obviously the curriculum would be more advanced and he'd ride a bus, etc - but Jack is definitely ready for an all day routine of school structure. I hope that within the next few years, All Day Kindergarten will be free and the norm in Minnesota. If he doesn't get into the all day program, we will make due with half day kindergarten and I'll try to have an open mind. But fingers crossed he just gets in!

Seven semi-quick Takes

1. I started getting a cold about two weeks ago. The first sign always is a sore throat. I did my best and drank a ton of liquid, took spray, tried to go to bed early. It got kind of better. Then I got a small cough. Then I woke up Monday morning of last week and could not speak. Like barely even a whisper. Fast forward to Thursday and I couldn't get out of bed. I was just overly tired. My body was trying to tell me to slow down. I spent all day Thursday sleeping. Not kidding. I ate a few bites of chicken noodle soup. That's it. In like 36 hours I had a few bites of soup. I literally lost 5 pounds. That part was kind of cool. (gained it back the next day, don't worry) I felt like everything was in my chest, so Friday morning I was diagnosed with bronchitis. Got myself some cough medicine and a sweet inhaler. Fast Forward to today, Wednesday the following week. I have a mad sinus infection. Like brutal. This afternoon I was like, ugh, I do NOT want to go sit in a germ infested doctor's room yet again to get diagnosed (hopefully) with something I know I have that will only go away with antibiotics (I have pulled out all of the sinus tricks - drugs, neti pot, steaming, etc etc etc - I need DRUGS!) So I just start googling online diagnosis and this website called Zipnosis pops up. I look it over - sounds perfect. Talk to Tom, he's like just go for it. I signed up, filled out a survey and within five minutes I had a response with a diagnosis of a sinus infection and a prescription for amoxicillin. How amazing! I quick clicked a button and it sent my prescription to CVS and I was able to pick up my meds within the hour. It only cost me $25! I was amazed! Obviously they don't prescribe the heavy duty pain killers, or scary drugs - but for what I needed, it was perfect. Just perfect! So happy! Now if only the meds would kick in!

2. Leo is moving. Like all around the floors moving. And putting every teeny tiny thing in his mouth. Every crumb, every sticker, every puzzle piece on the floor - that kid knows how to find the good stuff. You can tell he wants to be moving faster and gets frustrated, but he's on the move, watch out! None of my kids crawled for very long before they walked, but I'm hoping Leo will be a little slower. Both older boys were on the run by 10 months. I'd love for a late walker this time around.

3. I'm still obsessed with CorePower Yoga. I try to get there between 3-5 times a week and it's heavenly. I feel different, mentally and physically. I love how close it is to my house and I love having a routine of some sort and just feeling healthy and strong. I don't think I've ever felt stronger. My favorite class is Yoga Sculpt, but I love Core Restore and Hot Yoga Express too.

4. Tom and I decided to buy a Kindle Fire HD. We have been pleasantly surprised with how much we (I should say I) love it. The boys can play games that I download and we can also stream Netflix through there. And since it's the HD version, I bought a mini HDMI cord and we can plug it right into the TV and stream netflix on the tv that way. There are a ton of kids shows that the boys love on Netflix. And the size is just perfect for me to read from too. The first book I downloaded was Gone Girl. I finished that one within like 2-3 days. It was a great read. Not a fan of the ending though. Anyways, I'm an Apple girl at heart - but just didn't see the need for me to have an iPad or even a mini iPad for that matter. They are too pricey. I thought the kindle fire was very reasonably priced and does everything and more that I need from an eReader.

5. I gave up Facebook for Lent. YIKES! I can't believe that I actually did it. And truth be told, I don't really miss it that much. I miss it when I'm bored and just wanting to see what else is going on in my "friends" lives. I'm still on Instagram and I tend to get a tad obsessed with that at times too. But it feels good to be a little distant from all of the social media. Although I've joked around that now I'm going to start a Twitter page. I think Twitter would be fun to be on to follow certain celebrities and stay up to date that way. Thoughts? Opinions?
Also, on the Lent topic - why is it that every other Friday NOT during Lent, I swear I never crave meat so badly. Then Ash Wednesday rolls around this year and all I wanted was a big fat juicy burger. It's unreal. You always want what you can't have, am I right? am I right?

6. Today I counted Finn's teeth and it looks as though he is DONE teething. Which seems about right considering that he is not screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night, multiple times a night again. Good Lord. We are slowly getting back on track with a 6:30 AM wake up call around this joint, and that is a time that is doable in my world. I know we will go through other phases as Leo only has 2 out of 20 teeth. HA! But I'll take it when I can.

7. Each week I am getting closer and closer to my overall goal weight. I'm not like within a pound or anything crazy like that ( I was pretty dang close when I starved myself for those 36 hours though) ha. Tom says when I can stay at my goal weight for one week that I get to go on a shopping spree. DANG RIGHT I do. I've been pregnant for 30 months read two YEARS and 6 months in the past 5 years. I hate practically all of my clothes and nothing fits right. We are done having kids and I'm ready to move forward and feel good in everything I own versus just throwing on the same old crap every day. I'm sure it will still be another 3-5 months, but I've never felt like it would actually happen. I cannot WAIT! Talk about something motivating, especially with summer being right around the corner.....OH WAIT :-(

Quotes from a sleep deprived father

For those of you who don't know, my husband has narcolepsy. Ok, maybe not exactly - but it's pretty close. He falls asleep all. of. the. time. In movie theaters, when we have company over, etc etc. Anyways, added onto this narcolepsy comes some crazy form of sleep talking. Like, I will think he's awake, but really he's still sleeping even though his eyes are open and he's moving around. It is NOT cool you guys.

One time when Finn was a teeny tiny baby, he was fast asleep in his crib. I woke Tom up at like 10:30 to go up to bed with me. HUGE mistake. I am upstairs brushing my teeth and getting my pi's on when Tom walks into the room cradling a blanket like he is holding Finn. He goes "where should I put Finn to sleep" ummmmmmmm. I almost poured water on his face to wake him up. I did not think this was funny at the time, I was mad and honestly kind of scared. So lesson learned...when Tom falls asleep on the couch I do not wake him up.

Anyways, this craziness happened again last night. I had been up with Leo and Finn multiple times already. When I heard Finn whining I quick turned to Tom and nudged him and asked him what time it was. He goes "5:09" - I don't believe him. So I look at my phone and it's like 2:30 AM. I grunt and say, will you go scratch Finn's back or something. So he gets up, starts to walk out our door and says back to me, "wait, does Finn want the iPad or the iPhone?" BAHAHAHA. OMG, what??!?!?! I don't even respond. I just pull the covers over my head. Usually Tom is in Finn's room for like 10 seconds before he comes back to bed. This time, he must have stayed asleep in there. HAHA. I was not about to go in there though. Freaking hilarious.

In other news, I'm trying to whip out my camera more. I get into such a rut, and I miss taking pictures. And I forgot how much I love shooting in manual mode. I'm rereading my favorite photography book to get me inspired again. Here are some outdoor shots. I'm so over all of this snow. But with the roads being so wet, I feel like there are hints of Spring being on it's way. This will most likely backfire in my face in a few days. Here are some random outdoor photos, don't mind all of the grey and gloom in them. Blah.

I like the bokeh in this one

Seven Months Old

Do you like the new background. I became OBSESSED with Ali's when she made hers. A big shout out to Mel at Melz Stampz for creating such awesome chevron paper. Seriously, there is no pattern that makes me happier than chevron. Love it!

Anywho, my little lee lee, Leo is SEVEN months (February 2nd). I just can't fathom the fact that my last baby is over a half a year old. Where does the time go? I'm having so much fun with this little chub lately. He's sitting up like a champ and slowly is scooting his way around. Up on his knees rocking and ready to go.

I really need to get better about whipping out my camera, too. Maybe I'll start to blog more too if I force myself to take a ton of pictures every day.

Anyway, Leo is eating a combination of baby food and real people food three times a day. He's drinking four bottles, but they vary constantly as to how much he's drinking. For sure his first and last bottle are 8 ounces each, the other two range from 4-8 during the day. He's typically napping twice a day totaling in about 3 hours total. I'm thinking he will be like Finners and just start taking one big nap sooner rather than later which is a.o.k by me! Who knows though, everything is constantly changing.

We put him to bed between 6:30 - 6:45 PM each night and he typically wakes up around 6 AM. Sometimes he will go back to sleep until 7, if his other brothers are up then most likely not.

He is a bottomless pit when it comes to real food. He'd eat all.day.long! He's so happy eating too. I mean he's happy all of the time anyway (except when he's overly tired).

My only negative thing to say about my baby is that he is SO frustrating to feed a bottle too. He's constantly moving around and wiggling and turning his head. Most of the time I lay him on the floor and feed him like a baby goat or something. Holding the bottle upwards while he is in the crawling position. It is ridonkulous. Maybe I'll start using sippy cups instead of bottles soon. Not sure.

Well that's about all of my fun facts of my seven month old. Now let me overwhelm you with pictures of my bugaboo.

Deer in headlights, much?

The attack of Finn