*

Seriously?

2012-02-13T13:36:00.000-08:00

Lucas says "seriously Mom" to me sometimes. Like, "seriously Mom, stop doing that." And I think back, seriously you are telling me seriously? When did you turn 14? I definitely feel like the older my kids get the more I have no idea what I am doing. That could be a bad sign considering Lucas isn't quite 3yet. However watching Tami and Coach Eric work things out with Julie gives me courage that no one knows how to raise teenagers and that you somehow figure it out. That could be false though too since I haven't finished Friday Night Lights yet, so don't ruin it for me. Side note, if you haven't yet, you should watch Friday Night Lights on Netflix.

But seriously, Finn is sick again. Or should I say still sick. The little guy can't catch a break. James went out of town this weekend and Finn woke up with a fever Thursday night. So Friday I spent 3 plus hours at the doctors office with a patient Lucas and sick Finn. We left with a prescription for Lucas' ear infection, and instructions to watch Finn carefully with his RSV and a script to the suction shack to get his mucus sucked out.

Unfortunately that wasn't the last of the Dr.'s offices for the weekend. Saturday we visited the suction shack and Sunday the Dr. called to have me bring Finn in to be checked on again. Lucas was patient in all these waiting rooms and I did a good job of not being resentful that James was on vacation during it all. How can you when your man is at a "once in a lifetime" sporting event with his dad and brothers.

Finn is doing better now, still sick, but not getting worse. Looking at these pictures you wouldn't even think he was sick. He hardly complains and has just been really mellow instead of smiley and wiggly.
We survived the weekend.

Lucas still insists on milk warmed up in his sippy cup in the morning and at night, and before naps. Sometimes as stupid as this sounds as a mom, I forget I can say no. It sort of seems like something he needs because it makes him so happy. See how i have no idea what i am doing. He also has a much better morning if he can snuggle for a good 10 minutes before having to do anything. He is definitely not a morning person. I couldn't hold him at the moment so he parked himself on the rug to enjoy his morning milk.

This is dinner before the sickness came on. Still smiling.

Loved having these two next to each other in the cart at Costco. Lucas kept giving Finn aggressive head hugs and saying "oh Finny winny"

Getting some fresh air swinging at Laird Park. A mild Saturday, especially for January.

Dinner at Granny's on Sunday. Finn and Winslow are the next generation of roaring, destructive, boys to keep up with. Both wanted time with Papa on his lap.

Walking to the park all the green and yellow moss on the tree's looked so vibrant.

sickness

2012-01-29T19:50:00.000-08:00

Finn has not loved every minute of 2012. I can think of several less than awesome minutes he has had of it so far. Including starting it off with 4 new teeth which means teething, which means a runny nose, diarrhea and and ear infection. That was followed by a second ear infection, vomiting, more diarrhea, and terrible diaper rash. I miss my little Finn man. I feel like he hasn't felt or acted like his sweet and happy little self in over a month. He's still a major champ for all the sickness he's dealt with but
low energy and whiny. Not that I blame him. Fingers crossed the sicknesses will leave soon and little Finn can return to normal and my laundry loads can too.

The kitchen

2012-01-22T13:54:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure 90% of my day at home is spent in the kitchen with 50% of it cleaning up the kitchen. I mostly have Finn to thank for all the clean up since feeding him means food all over every surface. Food that has been presoaked in slobber to get extra sticky. I sort of feel like I can't get on with anything else if the kitchen is a huge disaster so rather than wait till the end of the day I'm cleaning up after each meal. I don't know what would be better or easier but it's what I do. The good news is our new kitchen is awesome. I love the radio next to it which I turn on for adult voices and company. I love the big windows that let in light and a view of the big tree in the back yard. It's a great space and makes me grateful we are in this beautiful house and that I have a kitchen to clean up.

Major clarification. Ironically (sadly Alanis has ruined me on the correct usage of that word), but ironically or not, the sad part is if you were to drop by say, any time day or night my kitchen would still look like a disaster. Maybe it's time to start following those cute little sayings all over pinterest that basically say, messy house means happy kids. I can't help but think that person just doesn't want to clean their house though and they are probably pinning quotes on pinterest and not really playing with their kids instead. Maybe I'm just being cynical. Anyway, I have a messy house that I feel like I spend a lot of time cleaning and mostly happy kids.

I also love James.

Finn 9 months

2012-01-22T13:49:00.000-08:00

Hello Finny,

You got 4 teeth on top this month. I finally stopped trying to force the binkie on you. I would continually try and stick it in your mouth after giving you a bottle before bed while you would continually spit it back out at me. Finally, 9 months later, I am getting the point. You don't love binkie's. I just like the idea of something soothing you, but you seem easily soothed and happy to kick in your crib without a binkie till you fall asleep.

You love kids and babies and try to talk with them when they are around. You loved having a friend over your size for a little play date while Lucas played downstairs with the big kids. You shared your food, slobber and germs, it was the best play date ever.

I think you look closer to crawling but you aren't crawling yet. You sort of are obsessed with me. When I leave the room, or hand you off to someone you get upset, or look for me to come back. This is flattering and problematic. You also get super excited whenever you see Lucas still and get all squirmy and kick. Feeding you is still a minor nightmare and major mess, but with the new teeth you'll be happy to be eating more solids and gnawing at things.

Happy 9 months!

Love,

MOM

2012-01-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

2011 in review

This is one of those posts that is just for me to remember and probably really long and boring to everyone else just as a warning.

In no particular order some cool stuff we did in 2011

Mexico with my family (Tulum)
Fishing trip with Michael and Joseph (James)
NYC Lucas and James
NYC with family and granny (Finn was just a couple months old)
Finnegan James Alfandre was born! (in a bathtub)
James' Grandma Foulger died
My Grandma Alder died
James put on a huge Block party for the Granary District
Took a girs trip to San Francisco, shopped a lot
We moved!
skiing
First Christmas in a home with just our little family
DC with James
Spudman (me and James)
Colter Bay (especially freezing this year at night)
Vermont
Lake Powell
Lucas gave up binkie
Lucas got pottie trained for the most part

Some books I remember reading
The Help
The reader
We need to talk about Kevin
Lots of birthing books - Ina May's guide to Natural Childbirth
Gathering of Zion
the Color of Water
Never Let Me Go
Bossypants
People of the Book
Cutting for Stone (technically finished it in 2012 but loved it)

Personal accomplishments/stuff i've been up to
Birthed Finn natural no meds
became mom of two
started preschool group for Lucas
triathlon
started a business : ) Etsy shop
Applied for jobs, didn't get any, was secretly happy about it/ok with it
participated in Craft lake City and the Finch art barn holiday show
nanny for kelly
started climbing again
started a journal for one week
thought of volunteering at various places
got to know jillian michael's 30 day shred workout video
lost jillian michaels's 30 day shred workout video

ready for my long list of lofty goals? Here's the thing. At church on New Year's day the speaker talked about setting goals as something to base your progress on, and remember what you wanted to work on. That part of goas I related to, and felt like I have been missing by not setting goals as much as I have in the past. It sort of inspired/motivated me to set goals again. I had kind of given up on goals, but I think that might be a lazy approach for me, and an excuse that my life is not in my control. I'd like to think parts of my life are in my control and that I can accomplish things I work hard towards. I also just like the idea of having something to remind you what you are working on and letting you know you are making progress or maybe not. I guess some perspective on what you want to be important and what you are giving time to.

Family history work
Family service 1 X a month (includes organizing and planning in advance)
Live worthy of, asking for, and listening to the Holy Ghost on a daily basis, especially in concern for my family.
Consider volunteering in field I'm interested in professionally (teens or hospice care)
read 1 scripture and pray with kids every night
stay active eat healthy
enter a race
run fast
climb a green problem at the gym
read good books
do more craft/organized learning with Lucas
lose temper less exercise patience more
Truly look for opportunities to help others and ACT on it
pray more sincerely
talk less critically of others, feel less and think less critically
blog more regularly (silent cheer erupts from all blog readers)
enjoy every day things with my family
Drop the K on ing words (this one is for James)

I'm especially optimistic this year it being an even year. Good things are happening people.

Getaway

2012-01-15T15:33:00.000-08:00

Way back in November over Thanksgiving James and I had a night away in DC thanks to Joe and Sue.
We used the bike share program and biked around the city stopping at some of our favorite places.

Amsterdam Falafal. I insisted on stopping here, as you can see with my stuffed face I enjoyed it.

Biking to get pizza at Gallery Place we stopped by the white house to wave to Pres. Obama

We ate breakfast in Dupont circle and enjoyed warm weather and big city living.

Major bonus was seeing our besties the Jeffries.

kickin it at the farmer's market in dupont circle.

I'm having a little deja vu with this post, so oops if it is a repeat. It was that much fun I had to talk about it again.

afternoons

2012-01-15T15:24:00.000-08:00

I watch my sister's kids a couple of afternoons a week. This is what it looks like a lot of the time. Luckily for you this is a silent representation, because it's a pretty noisy job. The boys are at scouts and missing in these pictures.

Lucas watches wild kratts while I nag everyone about doing their homework and practicing piano and make top raman and pour bowls of lucky charms. I'm definitely over paid.

Finn does a lot of rolling around on the blanket with Dolly for company.

Lucas NYC trip with Dad and the park

2012-01-15T15:17:00.000-08:00

I should really let James commentate on these pics but he's afraid to blog. This is from when Lucas went to NYC with his dad. Needless to say they both had a lot of fun and got to spend time with Aunt Ali, Liz, and uncle Spencer.

Finn missing Lucas and Dad

Eating my favorite chocolate chip cookie

rolling in on the bus from DC they see the city

napping nyc style

Lucas found a little rock "for finny." He didn't forget about us

one of the reasons james wanted to go to nyc i think was for the food, especially this sandwich from Katz's deli. Not my thing.

Headed home on public transport.

riding the subway all by himself!

Riding the carousel in the toys r us in times square with Aunt Alison

Unrelated to NYC, but on the same post for purposes of being lazy.

We have been spending a lot of time outside on walks and at the park. Lucas and Finn were sounding a little croup-y and the cold air is supposed to help relieve it. Finn LOVES swinging and kicks his legs non-stop. Lucas just loves being outside exploring, swinging, running, and playing. He has been riding his green strider bike around a lot and goes fast. I have a hard time keeping up. I'm secretly eying one of those chariot strollers that you can jog with, attach to a bike, and to ski's. I tried running with both of them in the phil and teds around liberty park. No bueno. The tires were a little flat for starters and the front tire was all over the place. Anyway, I have been enjoying the dry weather that makes getting out of the house easier, although I am hoping for some snow.

We have been taking Lucas up skiing and it is so bare on the mountains. It's a great year for teaching your kid how to ski though. Watching James with Lucas on the moutain manuevring with his skis and Lucas' skis and trying to patiently teach him while making it fun - he seemed like such a dad. Obviously he's a dad, but some moments really feel like it as an observer, on the mountain was one of those. James loves being a dad, which makes him such a good one.

I need to post some more skiing pictures because it's pretty cute. Finn and I took a lunch break. The weather has been sunny and warm the days we've been up to Alta. Pretty nice.

Natural History Museum

2012-01-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

Lucas loves dinosaurs. He went through a phase of running at people with his chin tucked into his neck ramming people with his head like a stygimoloch. Apparently they do that sort of thing but it really hurts. Since Thanksgiving he's seen a lot of dinosaur bones and fossils, at museums in DC and NYC, and now SLC. We went with Chelsea and her kids so Lucas had a blast. They had one display that you push a button and it blows a puff of air so you can smell different things like what a dinosaur ate, or what their swamp smelled like. I imagined, but also took a whiff and it stunk. For some reason Lucas wanted to keep doing that a lot. I guess it's a boy thing. Well I didn't take any pictures of the dino's but they did have a little interactive kid area with costumes that I tried to take a picture of them all in, but didn't quite catch it.

temple square

2012-01-01T12:57:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas we did some grocery shopping for our Christmas weekend feasting then headed to temple square to check out the lights. I complained about the cold most of the time but actually enjoyed it. We got there early enough to watch the sky go from bright blue to dark and starry. I couldn't stop myself from taking lots of temple pictures with the blue sky behind it. Lucas and Finn didn't have any tantrums which made the event much more enjoyable and we left before anyone started crying. We joined the rest of the SLC valley at Hire's for some greasy food. Why they always bring the shakes before the food I don't know but I'd like to start a petition to end the practice. Or I just need to stop ordering shakes. Loaded down with cheese fries and shakes we returned home to bed.

How Finn has spent most outings this winter

Can you tell he's thinking seriously don't make me smile for this picture.

zoo lights

2012-01-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

We went to zoo lights awhile ago with Lucas and Finn, and Roman, Wyatt and Stevie. For me the experience was slightly disappointing. When we walked in we were told Santa and his reindeer would be coming by in 15 minutes! We played in the park and waited and then lined up with everyone to watch Santa walk down the path without and ho ho ho-ing or bell jingling and then two people leading two reindeer on ropes behind him. Lame. The lights looked cool and I liked the chomping alligator and peacock feathers. We warmed up with hot chocolate and in the stinky amphibian house. Then I refused to let them ride the carousel stating we had gotten hot chocolate instead, and later realized what a lame aunt I was and wondered what I was trying to teach or prove, or if I was just trying to end the trip as soon as possible. We had a photo-op on the gorilla and then bounced. I probably wont be back, the lights I can see from the road are good enough for me, but I bet Lucas had a good time.

Red Butte

2012-01-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

I took Lucas, Finn, and Henry to Red Butte garden on a chilly afternoon. We bundled up and Finn and I watched the sun sink as Lucas and Henry chased each other through the mazes and garden paths. Then it got really cold and we got hot chocolate and went home. Lucas and Henry don't stop moving, talking and roaring when they get together.

Christmas

2012-01-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas came early for James and I this year. Around Thanksgiving we both got new iphones, pretty exciting, and then just a week before Christmas we got all moved into our new house we are renting. Although I am really missing my cleaning lady, aka my mom, we are loving all the space. Christmas Eve James and I went up skiing and met my brother and sister and some friends. I had a blast which says a lot since I don't have a complete love of skiing. The snow was pretty terrible but a beautiful day to enjoy up there without the kids.

We ate, more like feasted, Christmas Eve dinner at my parents. My mom cooked the whole meal and it tasted delicious. I tried to get all the kids to do the nativity and everyone participated quite willingly which surprised me but felt nice. Then we exchanged some gifts. My dad gave us tools, I'm guessing so we can't stop borrowing his, and the kids got spoiled with lots of toys. We didn't really talk up Santa and the reindeer so Lucas went to sleep without much anxiety or anticipation and even slept in till 9.

His eyes lit up when he walked into the room with a bin full of rocks and bulldozers, excavators, dump trucks, oh my, and more presents wrapped under the tree. We had a lot of fun watching him enjoy the morning and presents and felt like we had succeeded as stand-in Santa's. Finn loved his present too, and loved watching the excitement of paper tearing and packages opening.

We made breakfast, eggs, sausage, and James' cousin brought home made cinnamon rolls with maple frosting that tasted amazing and disappeared suddenly. I made home made belgium waffles which weren't quite as good as Brugge's but I have to say not bad.

We went to Church at my parent's ward and listened to Elder Ballard talk about the history of Christmas and tradition of giving gifts as well as 3 gifts the gospel of Jesus Christ gives us - life, gratitude, and love. I actually enjoyed going to church on Sunday and it helped me remember Christ on the day we celebrate his birth. Elder Ballard suggested reading the first two chapters of Luke as a family which we attempted. Lucas listened to the story of Mary and Joseph and Christ's birth and even though he didn't want any "baby presents!" maybe he is starting to learn the story of the Savior's entry into the world.

Now that I am a mom to boys I am more amazed by Mary imparticular when I hear the nativity story. How did she think of her child? She loved him, yet knew He was sent here to do His Father's work. Or maybe she didn't really know what that meant. She must have been completely humble and righteous to mother the Savior. What were those little intimate moments between mother and son like as a little baby, toddler, small boy? I'm sure she learned so much from Him from the beginning. But the most amazing part, or most heart wrenching for me, is to think of her helpless against the suffering of her holy son. To watch as He fulfilled his mission, and ultimately gave His life on the cross. Did Mary understand what it meant? How could she, and how could she not. He was her mortal son. It really amazes me.

Someone suggested as a tradition they take a night the week before Christmas and think of what gift they are going to give the Savior that year. I like that idea. Even if it's just that holiday season. Something that you can do, or give up, to help you think and act more like Christ. Ultimately I think He would ask that we do something to help someone in need. To not forget the lonely, the poor, the sick, the least among us. I think there really is a feeling around the Christmas holiday, whether it's buzzing around the universe or just something you feel personally, Christ's love seems more abundany this time of year.

I like Christmas. I experienced it differently this year as a mom and family living in our own home, putting on a Christmas rather than having Christmas put on for me. But I enjoyed it. The only expectations were what I put on myself. So when the breakfast casserole and homemade rolls sounded like too much work, we had eggs and Smith's rolls. It still tasted good and I got more sleep. Lucas and Finn liked their presents and it was fun giving it to them. I'm excited for these years to establish traditions and create memories for our family.

Finn 8 months

2012-01-01T11:59:00.000-08:00

Finn,

You are a happy talkative little baby growing bigger every day. I love getting you out of your crib in the morning. Your limbs wiggle and you smile so happily to have someone come get you. When I pick you up you start with the "da das" and pat my chest and back in excitement. We have a lot of fun together chasing Lucas around throughout the day and trying to get you fed which always requires a major cleaning of the kitchen and your entire body. You love finger foods and could happily do without the baby food puree. Now that you aren't sleeping in the hallway and getting lots of food throughout the day, you are quite a good sleeper. It's been really nice for you to have your own room, and I'm feeling pretty spoiled with this new spacious house. You still do an excited inhale squeak when you are really happy. You don't mind sitting or laying on the floor and roll all around but still not crawling. I think you are finally getting some teeth on top to match the row of 3 on the bottom. You've been uncomfortable with all that teething brings, and an ear infection, but still acting sweet as usual.

We are excited to start 2012 with you and soon will be celebrating your first birthday! Hard to imagine. I love having you in our family and now it's hard to imagine how things felt without you.

Love you little man,

Love,

Mom

Anticipating Christmas

2011-12-20T15:08:00.001-08:00

I'm really as unprepared as I can remember for Christmas. I haven't even made a paper chain to count down the days left, (5!!) or frosted any cookies, or wrapped any gifts. Moving set us back a bit I guess but thanks to James we actually have a tree. He only had to go to about 7 different stores to get enough lights to decorate our poor little tree. James has been blasting the Christmas music and doing his best to fill us up with Christmas cheer. I just want to anticipate it for another month or so. Is that weird? January and February just seem so long without something to look forward to. I'm excited to share Christmas with our family of 4 in our own home hopefully starting some new traditions and feeling the love of Christ along with all the chaos. Any good traditions out there? Mostly I can think of things revolving around food.

moving

2011-12-13T13:24:00.000-08:00

I've waited to publicly acknowledge we might move, until it became officially official. Which is today. Lease has been signed and keys handed over, sort of, (I still need to get them from my brother), and we can start moving in. We're staying in Salt Lake and renting a house while the couple works in Hawaii temporarily, about 2 years. It's exciting for our family to have our own space, even though we have completely taken over my parents house, and to feel settled in a home, even if it isn't ours. Which I wish it was because it is beautiful and awesome and we are going to love it.

Photos from recent happenings including, happy, straight up lounging, jumping, playing with the dogs (Lucas will really miss them), dinner, and dinner in the tub.

Holiday art and craft show

2011-12-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

Party people of the internet. Tomorrow night is the opening night for the Holiday Craft Exhibit and Sale at the Finch Gallery (about 13th east and 1st south - by the tennis courts in the park). I'm selling bird mobiles there, and lots of other artists, crafters, and talented people will be selling a huge variety of beautiful handmade goods. I dropped off my mobiles the other day and already have my eye on a few goodies. If you can't make opening night then stop by any time before Dec 18th, I'm pretty sure they are open every day.

Mobile uploads. Say what?!

2011-12-01T09:56:00.000-08:00

You heard right. I got myself a fancy new phone with a camera! Pretty exciting. Now I can take lots of pictures of Lucas, Finn, and whatever else pretty much whenever. Great news for everyone.

So here it goes. My first mobile uploads of recent happenings.

bath time with glow sticks, it was actually pretty cool but just looks like bath time with the flash.

getting in jammies on granny's bed.

Breakfast the next morning. I don't know about you guys but we are definitely night time bath people over here.

Lucas was to quote him "dancing with his eyes." It was even more amazing in person. He knows all the pop songs on the radio. I need to be more careful. The other day some song was playing and I was paying no attention and then we got in the house and Lucas says "I want to listen to Shake your money maker."

I was also trying to capture his amazing hair that morning.

Now we take our journey to DC where we spent a fun and delicious Thanksgiving.

Lucas had so much fun playing with his Alfandre cousins. I'm pretty sure they were up till 11:00 this night merry making. I told them to do some action shots and these are a couple of outtakes. He is seriously going to miss chasing and playing with those girls and doing boy stuff with Grant. Oh and Finn and Elyse also met for the first time. They both have crazy tongues.

This is how Lucas fell asleep on the way to the museums downtown. He was hiding behind blanket and wubbie. These are Lucas' two comfory items. Wubbie definitely takes precedence though. James is in NYC with Lucas now and forgot to bring wubbie and blanket with him. No bueno but I think Lucas is managing.

In georgetown. The sunset was pretty in pink, but James was feeling shy about posing for the camera.

I got to meet up with my best pal Rachel. AKA RJ jr jr. She is such a cute mom and I miss her so much! Oh and we saw her pretty cool husband Jimmy. JK Jimmy you are really cool just not photogenic. Sike.

James and I had a romantic/fun night without kids staying in DC thanks to Sue and Joe for babysitting. We used the newish DC bike share system and biked around to some of our old favorite places. I insisted on Amsterdam Falafal, I'd been craving it for months and SLC really doesn't have anything that compares. Then we went to Georgetown via Dupont circle and shed a couple of tears biking past our old apartment. We walked home through the neighborhoods of Georgetown wondering who lives in all the amazing old houses. Then we biked to Gallery place area, going past the white house, to get some yummy pizza, although it's probably not a great idea to eat something called "porky's revenge" at 10:00 pm but it was yummy. The next morning after SLEEPING IN!!! we walked through the Dupont farmers market and ate breakfast in Dupont circle in 70 degree weather and sunshine. It was a magical 24 hours.

The gamers. Steve and Callie are who we have to thank for introducing us to Aquire a few years ago. I think I've won the game once since then. James stole a win out from under me this time. Sadly we only had time for one game this visit.

Flying home. Finn and I flew back to SLC and left James and Lucas to head to NYC to continue there vacation adventures. I was chicken and didn't go.

How Finn fell asleep the other night. I guess I should get some crib bumpers. Do they work?

My mom, dad, and brother went to Peru for Thanksgiving. My mom came back with a few items including this lovely headband Finn is modeling.

I'm pretty sure I have a picture of Lucas doing this exact pose with this exact letter. I need to find it and compare...

Bath time without Lucas. We miss him.

So are you officially scared for all the millions of kid pictures I'll be posting? Hope so.

Impromptu photo shoot

2011-11-30T12:47:00.000-08:00

Usually I'm not that great at getting my kids dressed nicely for church, we're usually a little scraggly. I'm pretty sure this is the first time Finn has been in any pants other than sweats too, so I figured with the boys looking so handsome I'd take some pictures.

The photos are pretty amateur but the kids are cute.

Halloween after party

2011-11-30T12:42:00.000-08:00

I missed these pictures in my first Halloween post. Henry and Lucas trick-or-treated together and spent the whole night roaring at people. They were both dragons.

Enjoying the goods.

Back home they ended up bathing in the kitchen sink. Lucas kept combing his hair with the dish scrubber. They probably needed baths after this, but had a lot of fun.

I can't believe how big they both are! Pretty soon Finn and Winslow will be running around roaring at everyone. It's going to get pretty crazy around here.

Thanksgiving Point

2011-11-30T12:35:00.000-08:00

Halloween weekend we went to Thanksgiving point. We had no expectations but it turned out pretty awesome. They had about a million different things you could do. We spent a lot of our time watching Lucas climb on all the different wooden trucks, tractors, trains, etc and pretending to drive. He was in heaven. I'm pretty sure we'll go back next year. Michael came and joined us too, so Lucas was especially happy to have his fun uncle along.

This cow train was pretty awesome until I almost got stuck in that narrow seat behind Lucas. I'm pretty sure I accidently got in the kids one. I was just happy I got out without tipping over.

Little Finn spent a lot of his time in the stroller snoozing.

We obviously had to stop at in and out on the way home. Sometimes I think James tries to find ways to head out to 114 south just so he can go there. I don't really mind.

Finn 7 months

2011-11-30T12:22:00.000-08:00

Finn,

I love having you in my life. I love looking over at you smiling and getting a big smile in return. You always smile back too. Even if you are hungry, tired, or sad. You now have 3 teeth on the bottom I glimpse when I get those smiles. You love moving around and mostly kicking your legs. When I look at you and you smile at me it is usually accompanied by lots of excited leg kicking and arm waving. When I lay you in your bed to sleep we always here lots of leg kicks pounding on the mattress before you fall silent and asleep.

You love swinging. I put you in the swing at the park and my mouth hurt from smiling and giggling with you non stop. And of course your legs were running in the air as fast as you could propel them the whole time. Lucas liked swinging next to you and pushing you in the swing. You haven't tired of inspecting your hands. If your sitting without a toy or in the car seat you are always making fists and rolling them around in front of your eyes. You also love patting things. You are making lots of noises too and seem talkative already. It will be so much fun to start communicating with you even more soon.

It seems like you are completely over baby food. You purse your lips shut whenever we try and feed you. All you want is what we are eating. Sometimes I give in and let you chew on things until they start to dissolve and become a choking hazard and I have to take them away. Then you really let out a scream. You are starting to protest more and let your wants known but it's kind of cute to see you get so upset.

You are sitting up now but still crash sometimes. You are rolling all over the place too. It still doesn't look like you will be crawling soon, but we aren't in any rush. You seem happy enough for now anyway.

Now Dad and Lucas are in NYC and it's just you and me for a few days. I'm trying to take advantage of this one on one time we have together. It's been fun to snuggle and have you climb on me as we take our time laying in bed in the mornings. You are a great partner to take around as I try and get errands and shopping done while Lucas is gone. We are both really excited for them to get back though so dad can hold you while you chase Lucas around and scream and giggle and go on walks together in the stroller.

(missing Lucas in NYC)

Happy 7 months little man.

Love,

Mom

A fall hike

2011-11-18T18:43:00.000-08:00

I think this was back in early October when the leaves were just starting to change up the canyon. We took a little family hike to Donut Falls.

Lucas is feeding James "hay" because he is a horsy. James would pretend to be a sad horsy so cowboy would give him lots of kisses.

Lately

2011-11-06T19:16:00.000-08:00

It snowed. Enough to stay on the ground through the whole day. Enough to wake up to it again the next morning. I guess I'm ok with this. I'm actually enjoying this new white snow, and the feel of the holidays looming. Good food, cozy kitchens, flights to see family. I really don't have a choice about it anyway. I bought a pass the to the climbing gym which I'm excited about. I'm hoping a can go during the days with the kids, but once Finn is crawling this could be far fetched. Im excited to have a winter time activity though because its time I went public with it. I don't love skiing. It's ok on a not freezing day, and I actually love being up in the mountains especially when it takes you out if the inversion but I could be just as happy sitting in the lodge as a spectator. I don't know if I ever really loved skiing to be honest. I always felt like it was a freezing near death experience trying to keep up with my much more skilled friends and not getting lost. The only reason i really see to ski at this point to not miss out on family ski time. I want to be a fun cool mom that shreds the pow with her offspring, but after about age 6 I probably won't be able to keep up anyway. So the point is I'm excited about my climbing pass and if anyone wants to join me on a Saturday just after it dumped snow, I'll see you there and we can enjoy the near empty gym.

Lucas started preschool, our little co op parent run version of it. I hosted the first week and it didn't exactly go as imagined. I think I let Lucas take over at one point, but after a little trial and error I think it will be great for him and a lot of fun. He definitely likes to learn. I'm surprised still at what he remembers and knows and need to be more careful what I say because he is not forgetting it. Some funny things said lately. During his prayer he said, "thank you for the meat and bones for the t rex's and the plants for the brachiosauras.". Lucas really wanted to watch a show one morning but I'm breaking this habit because then I have a grouchy kid the rest of the day. So to convince me to let him watch Diego he seats, "but I won't freak out and kick you, I won't". That probably doesn't sound cute, but it was a good reminder of just why we are not watching shows. He also has started to try and make deals with me. It's one of those situations where you suddenly feel like they are in the drivers seat and you are the child. When I say he can't do something he says "how bout this" then makes up some scenario allowing him to do what he wants.

What else? All my boys got sick. James had a cold, it might have been a man cold. Finn spent a day and night throwing up, followed by explosive diarrhea and lots of sheet changes at 1,3,5 am. Then Lucas barfed, and I nearly did cleaning it up. Thank you fabreeze. Then James got sick and I was riding solo with the sick boys. I was glad to be living with my parents this past weekend. They shared the load and it helped a lot. I'm hopping for a healthier week ahead.

My stomach thing went away. Doctors told me to wait and maybe it would go away. At the time when I felt paralyzed by my stomach pain I wanted to punch them for telling me this. I didn't. I'm still sort of frustrated I never figured out what it was. I started taking a probiotic and did a few other things I wont share publicly but it just sort of went away. It sort of makes me feel like it was all fake, and my time getting tests done was a big silly waste, but I felt desperate at the time. I'm just hoping it doesn't come back.

James started a part time addmin job at tesoro in purchasing. It's been really great for him so far and we are grateful for the job. He is mostly looking forward to lots of lunches with Anne to chubbies.

I guess that is a pretty good update. It's funny how you get kind of used to certain uncertainties. When we moved to Utah nearly two years ago, we thought we moved for more opportunities for work, maybe we would be looking to buy a house soon, that were kind of entering the early stages of establishing our independence and growing our little family. We thought we'd live with my parents 6 months, maybe a year. At first I was anxious to get things going, to take our life off of pause and keep moving forward. I had a specific idea of what forward meant, but now I am more ok with the uncertainty. So many things that I thought were going to happen, that if they happened would explain and give meaning to all these other things that didn't happen, didn't happen. It's an uncertainty that I know it will all work out. That letting go of expectations opens your eyes to ways of doing things never considered an option before. I wouldn't go so far as to say I've excepted God's will for me, no matter what. But I have gotten a glimpse that doing that, excepting His will for you, when it isn't what you wanted or hoped, is somehow not as scary or bad as it sounds. Like getting a ski pass for Christmas when you really wanted a sewing machine. You just have to change the way you look at the ski pass, a way to spend time with family even if it is freezing, and find another way to do all the crafty things you wanted to do with the sewing machine. I realize this is a terrible example for the million people who would LOVE a ski pass for Christmas but if you didn't skip ahead you understand how I feel about it. Anyway. LIfe can be pretty wierdzees sometimes but I am learning it doesn't have to be scary weirdzees, just different than you thought weirdzees and I can handle that.

Halloween

2011-11-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

Well Halloween came and went and the witch from last year stayed in her box in the garage. We didn't even put up one spider web. I really just didnt want to re traumatize Lucas. He has been talking about the witch from Halloween 2010 all year. When he walks up the stairs he often says "no witch!" and hurries to catch up with me. At night we say prayers that "no mean witches will come" or any bad guys. Watching his show Dora a witch came on and he had to pull the covers up over his eyes. I try to talk to him about witches, and mostly suggest there are nice witches out there, since they obvously do exist for him. I thought I made some progress when he called downstairs and asked the "nice witches" if he could bring his toys upstairs. Apparently they were nice and said yes.

In addition to not re traumatizing Lucas this year Halloween had other victories. Lucas wore a costume for one. He even enjoyed trick or treating. He went as a dragon this year and there is no doubt in his mind when he put his costume on he was truly a dragon. He stayed in character any time he put his costume on, growling as he spoke, roaring, flying, and breathing fire, just the usual dragon stuff. I felt bad for his throat after a night of roaring like a dragon. We went to red butte garden this year too. It was freezing, and also a little disappointing. That place is so cute that I guess I was expecting more than just some colored lights, but we also didn't explore everything. Lucas just enjoyed the opportunity to fly around and roar at people without getting yelled at. We are working on talking nicely to people and not growling at others on an everyday basis.

Forgiving

2011-10-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure motherhood has taught me the blessing of forgiveness more than anything else. Patience is definitely a close second but since I haven't Mastered or even gotten a grip on it yet, forgiveness is still the winner. Because I use it, ask for it. A lot. Probably because my patience is a little slow to develop. Anyway back to it. Nothing is more humbling and more od a relieft than needing forgiveness from your 2 1/2 year old and 6 month old and getting it. They forgive me all the time and it's wonderful! Not wonderful to keep messing up and needingitbut wonderful to get forgiven. For the same stuff over and over again too.

Lucas is really into talking about his feelings. He got really mad at me when I was trying on a skirt at a friends house, threw a fit mad, and I got mad at him back. A few days later in the car he says, "mom remember when you wanted to try on that skirt and I didnt want you too eeyus (bc) I was really sad and eeyus it make me frustrated and you were mad and so I was feeling sad,". This remembering his feelings about events is common. This morning he told me that sometimes I scare him eeyus I get mad and frustrated at him and it makes him sad. Isn't that sad? I felt pretty horrible because I do lose my cool and patience with him, like after our high mantienence 30 minute nap routine and he still gets out of bed and wakes finn up on his way upstairs when he is supposed to be in bed demanding more milt when I already got him plenty of milk and warmed it up just likenhe asked. But even though I overreact and get mad at him and make him scared and sad, he forgives me.

Wholeheartedly. That's the best part about kid forgiveness. He doesn't hold a grudge or hold it over my head or withhold his love. He forgives me in a way that makes me think he forgot I did it and doesn't think I will ever do it again when chances are i will. It helps you believe Christ when he says though your sins be as scarlet they will be as white as snow and that He will remember them no more. Lucas helps me have faith that this could really be possible.

stomach attack

2011-10-23T13:29:00.000-07:00

Something is wrong with me but I don't know what and according to doctors I'm normal.

It started on Wednesday. I thought I pulled a muscle in my stomach when I woke up, which seemed weird since I hadn't done anything but go on a run a few days ago. I left for Las Vegas with my mom, Roman, Wyatt, Stevie, Lucas and Finn that day. My stomach was getting more sore, but I thought to myself muscles usually get a little more sore before they get better. After driving all day we made it to our hotel outside of Vegas. My stomach kept getting worse. It felt like an intense side ache in one spot that would not go away. I was feeling really tense at dinner and lost my appetite. My stomach was really hurting that I started to freak out. I left dinner with Lucas and Finn and tried to calm down. What was wrong with me, I had never experienced anything like this before. I could barely walk the pain was intense.

I admit it. I took myself to the ER in Vegas. Sketchy, but shows my desperation. I cried a little thinking to myself I was probably going have surgery in Vegas by some guy that impersonates Elvis on the weekends. I checked in and waited. And waited. And my stomach for the first time all day started to feel better. After and hour or so I debated leaving but worried it would return once I left and I was scared of being in that pain again. Finally they saw me. Took blood, checked my temperature, and did a ultra sound on my stomach. They thought it was my gallbladder and looked for gallstones. Everything came back normal. They sent me home with a loratab perscription i figured i wouldn't fill because i was feeling much better.

Next morning i woke with stomach pain again. Went down to the pool with the kids and it kept getting worse. I decided I needed the loratab. Biggest mistake comes next. I went to Walmart to get my prescription filled. took forever. I was in so much pain while I was waiting I drove myself back to the ER and waited outside debating what to do, then checked in, waited and debated some more, then left the ER. Went back to Walmart realized I left my ID at the ER, went back there to get it, went back to Walmart to wait some more for my presription. Broke down in tears several times. Finally I got my prescription. Walked out of Walmart crying.

Got back to the hotel and took the Loratab and watched Finn while my mom took everyone else out. I know I little sketchy watching Finn drugged up, but we both survived. I stayed on Loratab the rest of the day and then the next morning made a ticket to fly home. My stomach wasn't getting better and I was useless to my mom on Loratab so Kelly flew down and switched me places. I barely made my plane and was a real jerk to the people next to me until I got another Loratab in me. I sound like a total junky but I hate those things. I take one and let it wear off, wait till my stomach kills again and then take another. No bueno.

James picked me up from the airport Friday afternoon. I was so happy to see him. I hadn't eaten since Wednesday and I felt like a mess. We went to an insta care clinic where I waited some more, got pricked and had more tests that all came back normal. I went up to LDS hospital for a CT scan (felt like I was giving myself cancer -did not like it at all) and waited for those results. Came back normal. Went home and slept for 14 plus hours. Last night I felt the best I have felt. My stomach still felt sore like someone had punched me in it, but not cramping and painful. I even ate some food.

Today it has been more of the same. Feels like it's getting a little better, then starts to cramp and hurt a ton again. The doctors think it will just go away. I hope so but in the mean time it's super frustrating. I keep thinking people are going to tell me I'm a fraud. It's been really great having people believe me. I feel like I have a bit of validity having given birth without medication, which I'm really grateful for that now, if even so I believe myself. I don't really know why I am sharing all of this. Maybe for some ideas? It hurst on only my upper right side of my stomach. I was pretty convinced it was my gallbladder, but I guess that had been ruled out. Anyway, James is taking great care of me and Finn now and Lucas is having a blast with his cousins somewhere between here and Vegas, peeing his pants about every half hour.

I'm planning on feeling like new tomorrow.

Finn 6 months

2011-10-23T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hello Finn Man,
You are six months old! Half a year!

You have two teeth. All that drooling finally has something to show for itself. Two on the bottom, but hard to glimpse with that crazy tongue always in the way.

After being on formula for the past month you have put on two pounds at least (based on my weigh-ins not the doctors). It makes me feel kind of bad that you have probably been hungry for so long, but glad you are getting what you need now. You have slowly been sleeping better and better and now wake only once or twice. This is life changing and we are so happy. Seriously.

I'm just really happy that I get to be your mom. I know it's a huge blessing in my life and I'm grateful for it. I feel a little protective as a mom to two boys too. I think I used every type of to possible just now. Anyway, when I see commercials for video games that scare me, I think of you and Lucas and how I want to keep you innocent from those scary things. I don't think that is possible, or maybe even a good goal, but I hope you choose pure and good things to be in your life. There are so many choices for entertainment and fun and a lot of them scare me as a mom, but a lot of them are clean and good and I hope you choose them because you are clean and good. I think you can grow up and experience things, lots of things, but still stay that way - clean and good. And if you can't or don't it's ok, I might freak out, I don't know, but I know you can always choose differently next time. You can always be cleansed, try again, repent. I think I will be a forgiving mom, I hope so (not a pushover however). I know Christ is, and I hope you find that out too.

We drove to Las Vegas for UEA and you were a complete dream. While everyone zoned out on movies you drank your bottles, slept, and inspected your feet and hands, cooing and gurgling and never complaining. I was amazed but not surprised. You roll around all over the place and seem eager to sit up but haven't gotten it yet. You eat one meal of solid food a day that you love, which probably means it is time for more. I'm a little less enthusiastic about entering the messy world of food this time around but I will try and be brave and apologize frequently to my mom for the sticky mess that happens to be on everything.

Well Finn the next 6 months have many more teeth, weight gain, and eating ahead. Looking forward to all of it.

I love you,

Love,

Mom

pictures soon...

Lucas stuff

2011-10-08T13:43:00.000-07:00

I guess it continues to surprise and delight me when Lucas expresses himself and I get glimpses into that funny busy little mind.

At dinner papa asked if Lucas wanted to go do something and Lucas replied, "I can't, I tired. I had a big day I need to go to bed."

Lucas has an Elmo doll that talks. Before nap time he bumped it and Elmo said tickle elmo's tummy. "no Elmo I can't I taking a nap!"

When Lucas goes on hikes with us in the mountains he likes to walk the whole time and climb over big boulders by himself. He also loves to go fast. When he goes fast he turns tom the side and skids to a stop dragging a foot. For the longest time I couldn't figure out what he was doing until he said he was "making smoke.". Now it cracks me up every time.

When Lucas can't remember how to say something or what a word is called he says, "ummm I can't call it mom."

He loves making tracks. With his food or toys or anything, he lines it up into long lines. Doesn't build up so much as across.

I asked Lucas if he wanted to go to a friends house. He said no. Trying to convince him I said but we can do this, this, and this. He told me, "no, but I can't do all those things. It make me really tired."

He has a super man book he likes to read and is really into being a super guy and getting bad guys. He tells dad to be lex luthor a bad guy and fights him. He also has a super man shirt he likes to wear sometimes. He's particular about when he wears it because he takes it very seriously and runs fast and fights while he is in it.

That's all I got for now.

Halleluja sing praises

2011-10-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

The fog has lifted. Partially. Im talking about the lack of sleep fog I feel like I have been engulfed in since Finn was born. About a couple of weeks ago the waking up at night got worse. Every hour worse. I was turning into a monster. I had no patience with Lucas or anyone, and if anything went wrong in my day which generally happens at least a dozen times before lunch o wanted to cry, more like sob irrationally. After taking Finn to his 5 month weight check and hearing he had gained merely and ounce and half in the past 30 days and was now thie 5th percentile for weight I decided something needed to change. I felt really reluctant to give up nursing. I had worked hard to establish my supply, enjoyed the bonding time it gave me with finn, the money saved, and the good nutrition for him. On the other hand I was desperate for more sleep and didnt want to starve Finn of course.

Thus began the bottle feeding. In a lot of ways it has been really nice although I am still sad to quit nursing at 5 1/2 months. Now James can feed Finn, I can be away from him for more than a couple of hours without panicking, and I know how much he is eating. James has been a huge help now that Finn is taking bottles. We split up night duty which is why although Finn is still waking eery 3 hours I can sleep more. I hate to say it because James has always been super supportive and because he is my loving husband, but it's kind of been nice to see how waking with finn at night has been hard for him. I guess it is a little validating when he just wants to go to bed at night after the kids are asleep and wakes up with swollen tired eyes. He was sympathetic before but now I really feel his compassion for me. Of course I just wish everyone could sleep a solid 12 hours at night (8? Not sounding good enough) but since it's not the case it sure is nice having someone share the load with you.

But really this s meant to be a celebratory post. Im no longer a walking zombie. I still don't shower every day but I can hardly blame that on Finn. So cheers to life.

Finn 4 and 5 months

2011-09-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

Hi Little Finn Man,

Everything happens so much faster with 2 little guys around and time sometimes blends together but I'm trying to capture the small happenings of your little life. Just like Lucas you are strong and lean and obsessed with standing. You love to stand and look around when you are held, and you love to be held. You have also rolled over both ways but when you lay on your activity mat you don't roll much, but mostly pivot around inspecting your hanging toys. You reach for everything now and can grasp things and bring them to your mouth. Your mouth is always dripping a little piece of drool and your shirts can get soaked throughout the day with all your saliva. Although you don't spit up much you really drool. I would say you are teething but I haven't noticed any other signs, just lots of drool.

You are a sweet and pleasant baby and love to smile at others. You are obsessed with Lucas. He can always make you smile and laugh. Your gaze follows his wild body all over the place, smiling away. Lucas has started to notice the attention you give him and loves it. He really enjoys making you smile and tries to sooth you when you are sad. He likes to give you your binkie and sing "hush little baby don't you cry" to you. He also likes to rub your head and say "hello finny winny woo." As your mom I get a lot of joy out of watching these early interactions between you two and hope that you will always love and respect each other.

While you are a sweet and easy baby you have also given me a challenge with your lack of sleep. You still wake up every 3 hours or sometimes more to eat at night. This is a big change from what I experienced with Lucas and has been a hard adjustment for me. We went to the doctor's for your 4 month apt and your stats gave them a little concern about your weight gain, so for now I need to keep feeding you at night at your demand. You are 90th percentile in height, 75th for head, and dropped to 15th for weight. You could just be long and lean but we go in to get your weight checked tomorrow to be sure.

Since you aren't sleeping well at night (in my opinion) and the doctors are slightly concerned about your weight I decided to try and supplement with some formula. This meant giving you a bottle. Not happening. You knew what you wanted and it was NOT a bottle, however Dad and I were determined. We turned to drastic measures and cut you off from the breast. I left you with dad all day to learn how to take a bottle. I felt bad for both of you, but like I said you are sweet, and really didn't fuss much although you hadn't eaten for 10 hours. Finally you took a bottle! Such a relief for me and Dad! Hopefully we will find out if you are getting enough to eat soon, and now have a way to get you more food if you need. Oh, and it would be nice to go out at night without you, just once in awhile.

Even though we haven't gone out much without you, we have enjoyed taking you along for a lot of adventures. You took your first trip to Colter Bay this year. On our hike to Jenny Lake a bear was spotted off the trail and Papa took you with him to find it. This made me slightly nervous, especially knowing Papa a little better than you, but you really didn't mind. Luckily the bear didn't either and no one was eaten. You loved watching the fires at night, but mostly I think you just liked being around everyone. We enjoyed a nice bath back at home and you loved laying on the bath mat and kicking and splashing in the shallow water.

It's been a fun and sleepless five months little guy. Dad can't stop talking about how cute you are and I think the two of you have a sweet connection. Maybe it's the red hair. Either way you are very loved.

I love you,

Love,

Mom

Lucas 2 1/2 years

2011-09-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

Lucas,

Holy smokes you are nearly 3! It's a little bitter sweet. So much fun to watch you grow but a little sad to leave behind pieces of you as a baby and little toddler. You have changed so much. Ever since your buzz haircut after Finn was born you have become a little boy.

You are a regular chatterbox and sometimes I am surprised by all the words you know. You play pretend by yourself well and I love listening to what you make up. Now in your crib you are supposed to be sleeping but I can hear you making gun noises and playing pretend. You are still a true boy with your continued love of all things that involve weapons, balls, trucks, dirt, loud noises, roaring, and messes.

You also still love music and I think you know the words to nearly every song on dad's CD that has been playing in the car for the last while. You like to listen to your "favorite song" on repeat as loud as possible. This is sometimes annoying.

You have an incredible memory in my opinion. I'll wonder why or where you got some idea or phrase and then remember it is something we had seen or talked about months ago and you still remember it. Probably why the witch from last Halloween still gets talked about at times. You love your cousins, and especially love playing dragons with Henry and roaring loud.

You have started riding your strider bike and love taking it on walks. At night you are still demanding about your bed time routine (probably b/c I cater to it), and now request that we "don't close the door too much" every single time we put you down for bed. You get out of your crib on your own now and come up stairs with a stuffed animal and wubbie in hand demanding a milk and to watch a show in the mornings. A bad habit we got into when Finn made an appearance.

You are really sweet with your brother. He is lucky to have you. Sometimes you get sick of him and ask that I put him down but other times you want to bring Finn with us, or worry where he is if he's not around. You share your toys with him and dance around and make him laugh.

You no longer use a binkie! This was an accidental accomplishment b/c you kept biting holes in your binkie's and we didn't replace them. In Colter Bay you bit through your last binkie and although there has been some early waking and complaining, it was the last we saw of the binkie. Dad is especially happy about it.

You are somewhat potty trained, and all in all it's gone much better than I had hoped. There have been some melt downs on your part and mine, when you purposefully had accidents in the house, but I think we are through the worst of it and not buying anymore diapers!

You got stung by a bee for the first time when you stepped on one at Liberty Park. We listened to your favorite song really loud the whole way home and then watched a show to make you feel better. It worked. You are caring and kind. You tell me sorry if you accidentally bump me and ask if I'm ok when I bump into things, like I often do.

Ever since the rodeo you love playing horsey with dad. You ride on his back and fall off and demand to do it again. You are quite bossy. Most of all you are a lot of fun and bring me and Dad so much happiness as your parents.

I love you,

Love,

Mom

Grandparents

2011-09-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

Joe and Sue drove cross-country yet again to help another child out. Michael replaced Joseph down in Provo so they drove out with him and then stayed a few extra days up in Park City. We had a lot of fun on the Alpine slide and playing with all the toys they spoiled Lucas with. Lucas loved his new water gun and soaked James as we walked up main street in Park City, and he figured out his rubber band gun in about 2 seconds. They sure know the way to a two-year-old's heart.

We couldn't get Finn to stop looking at Lucas for the picture

As you can tell it was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun.

Here Joe is giving Lucas another awesome present/toy.

We also went out to dinner with Joe, Sue, Mike, and Liz who was in town, for Sue's birthday and ate about 4 dozen cookies afterward in the park. It's always sad to say goodbye to Grandma Sue and Grandpa Joe.

Finn's Birthday pictures

2011-09-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

I added pictures to my birth story post if you are interested. I had a friend Charlotte, who is a photographer, take the pictures. I debated having them done but I'm so glad I did. For me they bring back the emotion and joy of that day when Finn joined our family. I don't think I posted anything too scary, and I guess if you are looking you are interested, but they are birth pictures just sayin. I love them.

4th of July

2011-09-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

The neighborhood has a parade around the block and hotdog lunch for the fourth of July. My dad is responsible for driving the red convertible around at the head of the parade with a ghetto blaster on the back playing patriotic tunes. Lucas decorated his motorcycle and took off with the gang, but was far behind by the end of the first street. Trying to make up the distance he took a spill but quickly recovered and made it back for hotdogs and celebrating America. Then he and Henry walked around pretending to be dinosaurs, herbivores to be exact, and ate leaves and grass. Delicious.

Later we BBQed at my parents and James has now started a tradition of making bbq baked beans which means I have to make potato salad, b/c you really can't have one without the other. There was a lot of food. Then we headed down to the east high parking lot to let off fireworks. Roman had a list of his fireworks and the order he was lighting them so it was bound to be a good show. Unfortunately Lucas didn't enjoy it, actually it terrified him I'm pretty sure. I only blame myself. His first 4th of July he was around 4 months and we took him to the fireworks on the mall. We were literally under them and with the monuments the booms and bangs were loud and echoing. It was the saddest thing as the fireworks started to go off and that tiny little lucas got so scared and sad, and I think this may have caused some buried down fear of loud noises or at least fireworks. So when they started the fireworks this year and Lucas started to cry and look terrified again, I didn't push it and took him home feeling guilty about my early parenting mistake and hoped one day he would enjoy fireworks, or maybe a sparkler.

disclaimer, James did not approve of this outfit although perfect for the occasion.

Old phone pics

2011-09-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

I'm convinced I'd take more pictures if I had a camera phone. Maybe someday, but for now I stole these off James' phone.

I'm guessing around 6-7 months

James' dying meal if he could choose, hot pastrami from Katz's deli in NYC

Lucas became interested in this hat after the snow man wore it

copy cat stole my shoes

riding his beloved motorcycle with giant helmet

about one week

notice how much he grew up with the buzz cut. These pics are only a few weeks apart but he looks tons older I think.

shirtless in nyc after playing in the water at the playground

probably about 1 month

2 pictures from our cali trip

Vermont

2011-09-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

The top Alfandre's (grandma Sue and grandpa Joe) found a lake house in Vermont and organized another fantastic summer vacation for the rest of us Alfandres. I had never been to Vermont and so I was naturally looking forward to eating a lot of Ben and Jerry's ice-cream and not sure about much else. We definitely ate enough ben and jerry's but also discovered maple creamies with delicious maple syrup straight from Vermont of course, rolling hills with red barns, farms dotted with cows, and a beautiful lake with a thick tree filled shoreline. The house we stayed in reminded me of the one from Dan in Real Life, cozy and quirky with a beautiful lake view from the deck and rock area to play in the water from. We had a fun and relaxing time together with almost everyone, but just missed Liz.

James did not approve of this adorable outfit

riding in the car looking for the goat lady with grandpa Joe, Finn looks super comfy

They match

They're cute

At the South Hero volunteer fire station

The glazed look of children watching a show

Hugging uncle Mike

mesmerized by street performers

the Ben and Jerry's I can't stop talking about

a nap in the car after church

the house also had a sandbox that was a huge hit

checking out uncle Joseph since he left us for the East coast

The boys with James bonded over throwing rocks in the water

thought this was cute enough and appropriate enough to share, just some bare bums

Steven fishing with his boy

Madeline the best baby sitter

our view and beach/hangout

I was pretty jealous of Sue and Callie relaxing out in the water while the boys golfed but then I joined them

Love the action shot

why grandma sue is such a loved grandma, she is fun and playful

Callie creating some fun rides for the kiddos

A final bare bum shot

Obviously we enjoyed ourselves. Thanks for spoiling us Grandma Sue and Grandpa Joe

Bear Lake

2011-09-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Because I took pictures, I'll mention that we went to Bear Lake this summer. We drove through Logan because we have such great memories of the place. Logan canyon was beautiful, James tried to drive us off the road several times admiring old fishing holes. We borrowed a stand up paddle board and had fun playing on that. It was a pretty mellow trip with lots of raspberry shakes - basically a perfect getaway.

Because I took pictures, I'll mention that we went to Bear Lake this summer. We drove through Logan because we have such great memories of that place but didn't stay long. Logan canyon was beautiful to drive through and James tried to drive us off the road several times admiring old fishing holes. We borrowed a stand up paddle board and had fun playing on that. It was a pretty mellow trip with lots of raspberry shakes - basically a perfect getaway.

Recovery

2011-09-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

I know it's obnoxious to complain about stuff like getting pedicures and facials and going on trips but I just have to say I feel like with kids when we go on trips it's at least a couple of days of recovery, and I don't get pedicures and facials. I'm pretty sure we are back at square one with Lucas and potty training and Finn suddenly can't sleep past 5:00 am unless I'm holding him or he is in our bed. Yikes. I think I have big problems on my hands with that, my willpower at 5:00am is pretty pathetic. Anyway, I still need to do some more updating but first a little more recovering.

4th of July Rodeo

2011-08-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

I've been going to the Oakley rodeo over the 4th of July weekend as long as I can remember. I even caught a rooster once in the children's rodeo. We took it home and it lived in a pet taxi for awhile. At some point my dad was driving around with it in his car when the dry cleaner noticed and said she could give that rooster a good home. When I remembered that story it sounded a little suspicious, like maybe my dad let the rooster go on the freeway, so I asked him about it for confirmation. It turns out it's a true story, unless he's still trying to protect my feelings. When I think of that rooster in the pet taxi on the patio of my old house I think of my grandma Phyllis. She hated birds. I'm not sure why, but I know that about her for certain. I thought it was pretty funny to hold that rooster around her. Anyway the rodeo entertained as always. The clown act is getting pretty weak though. Also, I can't sit int he stands over the horses again. It's a great view for the bucking bronco's but the allergies are killer.

These photos are up in Peoa/Oakley. We pulled over b/c it was too pretty not to document.

Keeping it real

My aunt and uncle with Finn

Caught ya. Don't worry it's mandatory to enjoy a hotdog, red vine, cotton candy, and snow cone at the rodeo.

Dinner up the Canyon

2011-08-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

I've always loved dinner's up the canyon in the summer. My family used to head up Millcreek Sunday afternoons for fried chicken, corn, potato salad, and s'mores. We haven't done it nearly enough the past few years. Whenever I go I'm always mad at myself I haven't been going more. Now that summer's nearly over I'm having even more end of summer regret, but not as bad as James. I'm pretty sure he thinks this is his last summer, EVER. He's so sad about all the stuff he hasn't done I told him he's making me anxious for winter and he has to stop. Here we are not living in regret but hopefully enjoying the up the canyon dinner moment.

This face is so out of control.

james' s'more. Not bad.

This is our s'more off. I've taken s'more making seriously my whole life. I used to claim the s'more as my favorite desert but I've moved on. I still know how to make one fine looking s'more though. James tried to challenge me but it was just embarrassing. Actually he proved a worthy opponent but I'm just that good. You'll notice my s'more on the right was a double double. I melted chocolate on both sides of the graham to evenly coat the two browned mallows in the middle. Perfection.

Couple of cuties.

Lake Powell

2011-08-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

We've hit up Lake Powell the last 3 years in a row. Pretty lucky. It seems a little redundant to call Lake Powell hot but this year seemed especially caliente. I'm pretty sure the only time it felt cool was in the water. The last two years we went in September so this end of June business really turned up the temps. As always a lot of fun, but a 3 month old waking up at night in the hot hot heat to nurse close to my body made me question myself at times. Lot's of pictures below.

Until Next time lake

lagoon

2011-08-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

Remember back when summer first started? and now it's on it's way out. so sad. instead of freezing it i guess i'll recapture some parts as i try and play catch-up on this blog.

The best place to start on my summer catch-up tour? Lagoon, both for personal and logistical reasons. My mom and I headed there way back in early June with Stevie Roman and Wyatt. Lagoon also holds a soft spot in my heart as a perfect start to every summer. My childhood friend Liz and I would make "Lagoon Lists" for weeks in anticipation of Lagoon day. A Lagoon list really is for those who take their lagoon visits seriously, and consists of a list of rides in the order you plan on riding them. We took our visits and lagoon lists seriously. This trip didn't start with a lagoon list, but required much more emotional preparation going with 2 adults and 5 kids, I was scared. I first took Lucas on the big flying planes b/c i forgot about the kids part of lagoon and thought he would love them. They were a little high and fast and we both were anxious to get off - I thought I'd barf. Anyway, the rest of the time was a lot of hot dizzy sticky fun and no barfing, so I'd say it was successful.

Lucas LOVES Stevie. She probably feels more like his babysitter but he thinks they are the best of buds. She is a really good babysitter or bud.

This is right before he started crying and had to get off. I think he was having flashbacks of the big planes.

Surprisingly he tried the puff the magic dragon roller coaster with Granny and loved it.

Cheese.

snack break

I was loving his outfit. I think it was the sock shoe combo, or it could have been the kid.

Granny with the gang minus Roman. I think he was off trying to win some giant stuffed animal.

Finn slept for a record time that day and didn't even realize the excitement around him. What a sweetie.

Before I even had the car turned on Lucas was asleep in his carseat for the ride home. Both little guys slept the whole way home. I'd say it was a major success.

A little self-promotion

2011-08-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

Craft Lake City is this Saturday at the Gallivan Center from 2 til 10. If you can make it I'd sure be excited to see you. I think I will remember this summer as the summer of the birds. I made nearly 200 birds and am still finishing up mobiles. I definitely didn't realize what a time consuming project I signed myself up for but I've mostly enjoyed it.

See you Saturday.

preview

2011-07-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

summer has been good to us, keeping busy with fun. i have a lot of catching up to do but until then here is a sample.

lucas cracks me up on a regular basis especially with all his talking. yesterday he was pretending to be a dinosaur and James was asing about all his dino parts like his big teeth and scaly body. James asked him where he got his green scales from and Lucas replied, "uh, New York." Ever since that trip to NYC earlier this summer he will unexpectedly talk about it and the things he go there (usually he didn't really get them there).

When Lucas is being intense pretending to be a dragon, or fighting a bad guy, or just getting mad at me he does a serious mean face. It's mostly in the left lip which he snarls up Elvis like and the intense look in his eyes. I have to ask him to not do "mean face" in these situations. While riding in the car awhile ago Lucas told me "mom, Finn's doing mean face, stop Finny stop!." For some reason this
cracked me up.

Lucas will sometimes crouch down and talk with Finn in a sweet sing song voice like we talk to him in. One day I heard him say, "Finn, high-five!" and he grabbed Finn's hand for a high-five. Pretty cute.

these photos are awesome for a number of reasons. starting at the bottom, the shoes on the wrong feet, hands in pockets which takes concentrated effort to accomplish but he thinks he looks cool - i think, marker all over his left arm from the day before which means no bath last night, and the hat that is 5 sizes too small because I got it out for Finn but Lucas insisted on wearing it. I sure do love this little mess.

Finn 3 Months

2011-07-25T22:28:00.000-07:00

Finn,

Time is flying by. I have to admit I am kind of sad in some ways you are getting big so fast, but I'm also really excited for each new phase and development. I pulled out a sleeper yesterday that I remembered as one of my favorites for Lucas around 6 months and put it on you at almost 3 months. It's fun to have memories of these stages from Lucas and more confidence too. It's made the baby stage less stressful and I think I have appreciated it more. It also puts into perspective how fast these little creatures grow.

You always have your tongue sticking out between your little lips and you are a drooler. You don't love your binky but you'll take it in a pinch or in the car. Most of the time you lose it and find your hand to suck on. You are more alert and attentive then ever and really love to be talked and smiled to, and always give a big smile back.

Lucas has started to realize you aren't going anywhere and that sometimes you take up my time when he would like it for himself. We have had a couple of melt downs about him needing to be held while I am trying to feed you. He also is really sweet with you and I love the moments when I catch him crouching down to talk with you brother to brother about important stuff like dinosaurs, dragons, and life in general. He likes giving you hi-five and having you watch him jump off of stuff. When you cry in the car it really stresses him out. He starts off with just letting me know, "mom, baby's crwying," then when you don't stop he gets really concerned and sometimes ends up crying himself, "mom, baby needs you! baby's CRWYING!" (This is generally my favorite time of day, and not at all stressful to have two unreachable, crying children in the back seat).

We took a trip to Lake Powell (I know, another trip, and yes we are spoiled), and you were of course easy and sweet. Sleeping there was not that awesome and you and I probably slept in every possible location trying to cool off. I did love seeing you sleep in just your onesie like a little star with your hands up over your head and your legs kicked out, instead of the usual straight jacket swaddle. Speaking of sleep, the best news ever this month is that for 2 nights in a row you slept for more than 3 hours, we are talking 5 hour stretches. This makes such a difference for me in my day and I am hoping it lasts - literally just knocked on wood.

I love our mornings together when you stretch out those long legs, reach your hands up high over your head (they actually just reach the top of your head) and stretch your head back with eyes closed in the biggest full-body morning stretch ever. I also love our nights when you finally get tired of "talking" and smiling with me and dad and you fall asleep while I feed you.

I'm sure Babywise and other parenting books would frown on me for letting you fall asleep while eating as bad sleep training, but that's one thing I've enjoyed more this time around. I haven't read any books, stressed about any schedules, or second guessed myself non-stop. Maybe that's why I think you are such a calm and easy baby, I am more at ease or at least less up tight this time around, or maybe because your calm I am more able to be less uptight? Who knows, but for now I am enjoying this taking it easy approach and figuring it out as we go, and you are a great partner in it.

I love you,

Love,
Mom

Finn 2 Months

2011-07-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

Hello Little Finn,

When I nurse you I keep thinking how big you are getting. I don't remember Lucas' little feet reaching out beyond my stomach for awhile but with you it seemed like at 2 weeks you were already growing fast. At your 2 month check up my suspicions were confirmed when they charted you at the 93rd percentile for height, and 50th for weight. I have to admit I took some (or a lot) of pride in this growth achievement because you have lived off of pure breast milk. Gross, I know if you can actually read this now, but at the time it was an accomplishment and totally not gross at all. The bad news in growing that much in 2 months is that it takes a lot of eating, you pretty much have to do it all the time. At night you are still waking up every 2-3 hours and it is sort of killing me. In fact I think I alternate between saying, "you are the sweetest thing," to "you are really killing me." You are only killing me in the sleeping department though so I guess I should (and I will), count myself lucky.

So what about the other departments? Well me and dad really can't get over how sweet you are. Maybe it's a newborn thing, but you seem particularly calm and content. I can't always give you the attention I would like, but you patiently wait in your bouncer staring out the window wondering who could be so noisy (it's Lucas). You usually spend some time every day in your ergo baby carrier. Since I recently discovered I could discreetly feed you in there you might be spending even more time strapped on me. I love having you that close and snuggled to my body. I love peeking down at your little face gazing back up at me as we go on adventures with Lucas. You are usually asleep in five seconds, and I love peeking at that sleeping little face too.

This month on father's day your dad gave you a beautiful blessing at church surrounded by other men who love and support you and still more who couldn't be there. You are lucky to have such a loving and thoughtful dad who knows the Savior and will help you to know Him too. He blessed you to know that your Heavenly Father loves you, and that your Savior does too, and that you can go to Him when you need help because He will understand you and your problems best of all because He has gone through everything Himself. Your dad said it a lot more eloquently, but the bummer with being 2 months old is you can't remember anything so I'm trying to at least sum it up. Also you should know that so many people including your family love you so much and are so happy you are here. We are so excited and happy that you are part of our family. Thanks for being such a sweet little guy.

I love you,

Love,

Mom

Poser

2011-07-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

I applied for Craft Lake City to sell bird mobiles like the one I made awhile ago and posted, and turns out I got in. I feel like an impostor in craft world, I still can't even navigate my way through JoAnn's, but I'm excited to see if I sell any mobiles. Since I didn't have any made when I got the news I have a lot of birds to make so wish me luck. Check out other legit crafters on Aug 13th at the Gallivan center if you're into that, and you should be.

Block party after party

2011-07-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

Remember that block party I was telling you about that James put on for the Granary District? Well it's no surprise but he killed it. We are talking major success. James made a video recap you can check out if you missed out on the actual day. The push cart was even more fun than it looked to ride. Anne may have had to be kicked off, but that was right after her photo op for the tribune which wrote a couple of articles about the event. We are real proud of James over here.

California

2011-07-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

I really wish I didn't delete all the pictures from our camera, but this trip recap will be words only because I did. James planned a trip for just our family to the OC area of California the beginning of June. We had a great time just enjoying being together and quickly moved into our hotel room with dinosaurs on the floor and trader Joe's goodies in the mini fridge. The weather wasn't that awesome (a little June Gloom anyone?) but by the afternoon the sun was always shining so we played at the beach and mostly enjoyed the cool breeze. I definitely didn't do any Ocean swimming though. The mornings we usually played in the hotel pool and sometimes took turns running on the wetlands trails across from the hotel. We ate a lot of In n' Out, and Frozen yogurt and I think James' may have finally perfected his yogurt combination by the last day. I usually passed out as soon as Finn did so our nights (besides the burgers and yogurt) weren't too exciting, but kind of perfect really.

We celebrated James' birthday but it was slightly interrupted by Lucas getting croup. He was up all night coughing and in and out of the shower to let the steam open up his airways a little. This was kind of a bummer that it happened the first night of the trip because it felt like Lucas was too tired and not feeling well to be himself, and got pretty grouchy at times. I felt pretty bad when he said he wanted to go home the second day, but once in the pool or on the beach or in the car with Dora on he was happy again. He also got to see Tate and Elle a couple of days at the beach since the Teerlinks were also in Cali so that brought some joy, and when it wore off there was always more Dora.

James made an amazing mix for our trip and I think he will totally own that he has a love for female rockstar songs (think Pink or Katie Perry). So we rocked out on those California highways to all the songs the radio plays every few minutes and Lucas loved every minute of it. He would get angry when we would turn it down, or when a song ended and a new one hadn't started yet (actually not that cute in action). We probably need to start editing our music choices because I think he knows all the words to Lada Gaga, Pink, and Katie Perry hits.

We made a trip to San Diego to see Mike and Lauren and play at the beach in Encinitas which was a lot of fun. Lauren basically babysat my kids and James and Mike played frisbee, so it might not be a lot of fun depending on who you ask. Lucas played in the "river" which was the water draining down into the Ocean and that I thought looked like a fun place for a two-year-old to splash and play around in. I was a little bugged when some man walking by asked if that was my kid, and then told me that the water had a lot of bacteria in it in a you-are-an-idiot kind of way, but then I realized I was an idiot and he was probably just trying to help me out. I realized this when Lucas' sweet one piece swim outfit smelt pretty nasty later that day.

It was a little sad to say goodbye to our hotel room that had become our home for the week and turn off the radio and turn in the rental car. I loved being there with our little family. Me and all my boys.

moms

2011-07-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

I still don't feel like a mom. Sometimes it catches me off guard when Lucas' needs his mom and it's me. I think I've expressed this before, but I guess it's that a mom is such a loaded word, and means so much that to have someone call you it, you can't possibly feel you are all those things that word means to you. Like when your newborn is still waking up every few hours at night and your toddler has an ear infection and wakes up during that precious time the newborn is sleeping it's good to have a mom around, or to live in her basement. I was just rocking Finn in the rocking chair and remembering my mom rocking me in it at our old house in the corner of the living room at night when I was sick. Then wondering if she sang Lucas' the same song she sang me when she rocked him to bed at 1:00 am when I was too tired to do it any more and lay on the carpet half listening to my mom's version of silent night on repeat.

Something cool

2011-07-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

You know what is pretty cool? Go on a family trip and take some pictures, then have your husband take a fishing trip with his brothers and take some pictures, then go to lagoon and take some pictures and then delete them all. Ya, I did that. Not cool actually. I just wanted more memory space for some more killer pics of lagoon and accidentally selected delete all, instead of delete single. There should be major flashing lights and warnings for a decision like that, but it just took a touch of the finger. Anyway, I have much to blog about because we have had a busy summer, but not a lot of pictures to show for it. I'm not even going to blog about it now, because Finn is sleeping which means my sleep time is ticking away. I guess that is something else that is cool - a blog post about how you aren't going to blog, or post any pictures.
cool.

NYC

2011-06-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

We went to New York and James was in charge of the camera for the most part which means we have pictures to post. Get excited there are a lot of them. My mom is a travelling woman. I think she gets anxious when she isn't planning a trip. We benefited from these qualities and the fact that James knows NYC pretty well, or at least lets my mom think he does, because my mom offered to take us. And our kids. I know, it doesn't sound like fun to me either, but she offered, we said yes, and then we were there. It was a ton of fun and we were really grateful to my mom for taking us with her. I do admit after all day traveling and trying to walk with two kids and all our stuff around the city I was questioning if this was a vacation because it felt like a lot of work, but once I got my city legs I was ready to stay and vacation the crap out of that city. So I guess I will commentate on some of the photos. enjoy.

riding in the cab sans car seats into the city. Don't tell on me. Doesn't he look like such a big kid in all of these pictures though?

probably part of why it was so exhausting. I had Finn on me in that pack probably 90% of the time. When you leave your hotel in the morning and don't come back until late that night, that is a lot of on your feet time.

Walking in central park James stops this guy handing out maps and asks if he was on a mormon message video. Sure enough Charles was. James was pretty excited about, I hadn't seen the video but we snapped up this picture. Here is the video if you are interested.

Central park zoo. Checking out what animals to see with aunt allie.

The penguins and polar bears were a major hit.

When Finn wasn't in the back pack he rolled around in the stroller like this.

I have to say James was a super dad on this trip. He took over with Lucas and manned that stroller like crazy through the crowded streets. His life goal is to live in NYC so I think he was working extra hard to make me so how doable it could be. Little does he know I am on to him, and realize he wouldn't be around to haul that stroller up subway steps for me every day.

Grandpa Joe got Lucas that sweet super size drink at the zoo.

Taking a pizza break in Madison Sq. Park

My new favorite spot in Manhattan. Highline park. They converted a raised railroad track on the west side of the island to this walkway/park area. It had great views and was nice to get off the street with all the cars and walk along with plants and water and earthy stuff.

Cooling off our feet on this water part of the walkway.

This is the best shot. It captures what Lucas did 98% of the trip when he wasn't in the stoller. Climb on stuff and then jump off it. He is a fabulous jumper and gets tons of practice. He was such a champ on this trip too. We would go all day long and he was excited and happy nearly the whole time. He took little mini naps in his stroller and woke up ready to go. I think he is like his dad and is energized by the city life.

In Chelsea market below the high line

I must have said something totally funny.

Lucas really bonded with Liz. Here he is probably telling her something very important that she probably can only understand about 5% of.

Holding is brother in a rare moment of down time at the hotel.

Lucas is in the stage where he needs to do everything by himself. That is tricky when it comes to get on and off crowded subway trains and just any time you are in a hurry. But he does look cute sitting on the seat by himself.

At a park east of SoHo where Lucas "played soccer with his friends" he would be happy to tell you. I think James was in heaven taking Lucas to all these parks in the city and pretending like he lived there for the weekend.

This park at Union Park was pretty amazing. They had at least 4 different play areas that were really nice and some great bench seating for the adults. It was just cool to see so many kids playing in a park in the middle of such a busy place. Guess us country folk take awhile to get used to this stuff.

That ghost is me trying to nurse in public. I really got sick of nursing in public. Sometimes you just have to see what you are doing.

Eating shake shack at Madison Sq park. Thanks Allie and Spencer and Liz for waiting in the long line. Steven I have to say these are the best burgers. Lucas had to wear his new I heart NY shirt after getting wet sand all over his other one at the park.

Sunday in Central park.

My other favorite part of NYC. Getting Levains cookies (truly the best Chocolate chip cookie ever) and eating them in central park.

There was a racoon there that day that kept getting up in people's business. I was kind of afraid, especially since he wasn't at all afraid. No rabbies here though.

It was such a fun trip and such an added bonus that we got to see the Alfandre's while we were there. Thanks for hanging out with us guys. Lucas talks about you lot's and wants you to come visit him now.

zoo

2011-06-01T16:45:00.000-07:00

Lucas loves dinosaurs. So far my experience as a mother, boys really come as boys, loving balls, trucks, dinosaurs, and instinctively turning most things into weapons, and a built in knowledge of destructive sound effects and of course roaring. So I thought he would love the new zoo exhibit of giant dinosaurs that move and make noise. I think it all felt too real for him, and he ended up being a little frightened of some of the dinosaurs. We have all summer to get used to them though.

riding T- Rex

By the way, he had just got his new short hair cut and was looking especially grown up.

You can't really see it, but the gorilla is what I would be afraid of

enjoying ice-cream in the tigers

had to document the skills of this tongue.

We had a great day and especially loved having dad with us after not seeing him much before the block party. See you soon Dinos.

Birth Story

2011-05-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

I wasn't expecting to have my baby early, but I was kind of thinking it would be cool if he was right on time. Like maybe it would predict future behavior and temperament and I would have a very obedient and considerate child. I had felt contractions all week but nothing to get too excited about, just enough to start thinking, if not today then definitely soon. Sunday night I started feeling contractions strong enough to wake me up. I didn't let myself get too excited and like the birth stories I had read about, I told myself to go back to bed and get all the rest I could. And I did. And it was sort of disappointing. Monday night I had a plan. I went bowling with Lucas, James, and Uncle Joe, got a strike and 2 spares and still rolled(?) a 62 (actually one of my better scores, pregnant or not), ate pizza, drank Soda, and felt absolutely nothing contraction related that night. Plan failed. Was this baby trying to be born on 4/20? Would I be having the opposite of an obedient considerate baby?

So Tuesday morning I did my modified Jillian Michael's workout video (still trying to get things going) and got ready for my scheduled apt with Rebecca my midwife. I had dilated from a 2 the week before to a 3 so I was making some progress but decided to have her strip my membranes. That phrase sounds awful and intrusive to me, but really it took about 2 seconds was painless and no big deal. I also got to do a stress test to make sure the baby was still happy in the belly. This was great because it meant I had to lay down and read people magazine while drinking ice cold juice with monitors on my stomach. Probably ended up being the most relaxing part of my day. (This is turning into a very detailed birth story, sorry if you are just in it for the good stuff like babies, blood, and placentas - it's coming).

Once we left Rebecca's around 11:30 I started feeling mild contractions. I didn't want to get my hopes up in case they fizzled out, but by 1:30 they felt even stronger and more consistent so I decided to go back to Rebecca's for my antibiotics. Then James and I headed to Nordstrom's since it was just around the corner and I walked around the shoe department and James' got himself something nice, since he was about to go through labor, oh wait that's me, but he still got himself something nice. I didn't want to jinx anything by saying it out loud but the way things were moving along I thought this could be the real deal. I also didn't want to show up at Rebecca's for the 3rd time that day on a false alarm.

I should say at this point I was feeling quite emotional in general but also about my relationship with Lucas. Anticipating seeing Lucas at home I started to cry a little in the car. Did any of you other second time mom's feel like this? It was like I was saying goodbye to something, not Lucas, but our time together just me and him. Don't get me wrong I wanted and was excited about this new baby and all that it meant but I was just feeling a little emotional about Lucas. When I left for the birth center I cried again saying goodbye to him. Anyway, back to the story.

Once home James and I started out for a walk around the neighborhood with Lucas, but by the time we got to the end of the driveway my contractions were strong enough to send me on all fours in the neighbors front lawn. I wanted to keep going on the walk, James seemed slightly alarmed but onward we went. I made it about a block and a half crouching on all fours every few minutes on neighbor's lawns before I realized James was right we should probably go home. I wanted to stay at home for as long as possible and told myself we would go back to the birth center in an hour. While I walked around the yard, James got on the phone with Rebecca to tell her what was happening. She said not to wait an hour but to come right in. By then I had to stop and throw myself into the couch and moan into a pillow on each contraction so I didn't argue about leaving - I was getting pretty serious.

I rode in the back seat on all fours to the birth center. This was the cool like the movies part, where I got to tell James to go faster, and he got to speed on the highway and cut people off and shake his fists in the air. We made great timing and now comes my proudest moment. I assumed no one would be at the birth center when I burst in and rushed to the bathroom located directly across the narrow hall of Rebecca's office. With the door open I used the toilet but a strong contraction sent me to my hands and knees moaning like a cow. As I gathered myself off the floor and headed back to the birth room I saw a pair of white tennis shoes coming from legs sitting on a couch directly across the hall from me in Rebecca's office. Awesome.

It was about 4:30 when we got to the birth center and I was super anxious to get in the tub. Rebecca gave me the go ahead and in I went. (Apparently if you get in too early it can slow down labor). I was surprised at how soothing it felt despite still dealing with intense contractions. At least now I could relax better between contractions and get a grip on the situation. I was safe in my tub at the birth center with my competent midwife and supportive husband. Now I could do this.

Or so I thought. Even with James straddling the tub to put pressure on my back and their encouraging words I still went through a moment or moments of panic. I would feel a contraction building and look desperately at Rebecca and James for help. I told them I was scared, but I don't know exactly of what, just the pain and uncertainty of what was happening and when it would end. I remember contractions starting and saying help me, I need help! I was also fearing in the back of my head that I would be at this for hours more, since Lucas was about 14 hours of labor at the hospital.

They both reassured me telling me I could do anything for 60 seconds, and that soon I would be holding my baby. I remember getting mad during one contraction about where James was putting the pressure on my back and unable to talk trying to reach back and frantically direct him to the right spot, but unable to find it myself. I could slightly hear giggling and sense James and Rebecca were laughing lightly behind me. Surprisingly this didn't annoy me, but in the back of my head I knew if they were laughing I was OK, and that I wouldn't die, and I was going to be fine.

Kneeling in the tub through contractions bent over the side of the tub I would moan into my brown towel with James talking me through and Rebecca pouring water over my back and applying pressure. As the intensity grew my low moans turned into frantic and desperate high pitched screams to which James and Rebecca would direct me to keep it low. I realized the higher my screams got the more panicked and out of control I felt, so I tried to be obedient and keep it to low moans, but I wasn't always that dignified. I also remember somewhat consciously pulling with both fists at James' orange hair through one contraction then moving my grip to the sides of his neck for the next contraction. I think I was aware I was hurting him, but needed him to know how serious this felt.

Then probably about an hour or 45 minutes later I saw Rebecca's face and she was telling me I made it through transition. I literally could not believe it, and asked her if she was serious, had I really? She confirmed and I felt a sense of emotional relief and a lessening of fear. This meant I was at the pushing phase and according to my books many woman enjoyed this part, and didn't find it painful. In the midst of it I thought they were all liars and was extremely disappointed I still felt pain, pressure, and intense contractions just working in a different way.

Rebecca guided me through the pushing part, but because I had complete feeling I was also able to guide myself somewhat. I hope this doesn't make you too uncomfortable to read, but in the middle of the pushing part I could reach down and feel my baby's soft head. It was really going to happen. I was going to end this pain and pregnancy with a baby in my arms. I still couldn't believe it, even feeling that little head. A few pushes later it was sudden relief and I reached down for my son and sat back, pulling him close to my chest. I held his warm tiny body near my warm body and instantly it was all over. No pain, no fear, no pressure. Just a brand new baby in my arms.

I was drunk on love at this point and on a serious high. I kept telling James and Rebecca and Charlotte, who was there to document with pictures, how much I loved them, like really loved them! I was also celebrating. I kept repeating, I did it! and It's over! I can't believe I did it! I felt more proud of myself then I have ever felt before in my life and I wasn't embarrassed to admit it or humble about it. When people told me great job, I said I know I'm amazing. I was a rock star, but I felt even cooler and bigger than one.

I got to hold unnamed little baby in my arms in the tub for quite a while. The umbilical cord was cut later, and eventually the placenta came out and I felt complete relief. I showered off and then climbed into a cozy bed and was again given my baby to begin our first meal of breastfeeding together. James turned on some music, probably Bob Dylan if I remember right, and I was given cold juice and fed warm and delicious fresh made cinnamon rolls. James sat by me also enjoying fresh cinnamon rolls and gazed at our newborn. I'm sure he also felt intense relief that it was all over. (asked which he preferred, birth center or hospital though, James said birth center, despite all the anxiety he felt about it leading up to and probably during labor).

These intimate moments after the birth with no one taking away my baby to do tests or clean him off (he'd already had his first bath at birth) felt part of the reward for laboring out of the hospital. I loved that I could walk around on my own too. Later as I sat in bed with a delicious meal prepared by Rebecca on my lap I had a little surge of fear because I had a feeling I could never birth in the hospital again because I knew what I would be giving up with the epidural, but I also was aware of the pain. I didn't dwell on it though, and finished my meal with enthusiasm.

We went home later that night and it felt good to crawl into my own bed with my husband by my side and the new baby in his new home. I'm so thankful everything went well without complications and that I was able to bring home a healthy little boy. Birth is a miracle and a blessing and an amazing experience to be part of each time, no matter where or how you get through it. Thank you Heavenly Father.

Finn 1 month

2011-05-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

Hello little Finn,

Wow, you are already one month! It has gone by so fast. Since you've been born life has been pretty crazy. My brother Mark got married, James and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary, my grandma Kay passed away, and James put on a huge (and hugely successful) Block Party. You'll have no memory obviously, but you were there for all of it.

It's difficult not to compare you to Lucas, my only other mothering experience, but I badly don't want to get in the habit of comparing my two unique boys. Lucas has adjusted pretty well so far to your presence and occasionally pays attention to you, looking at your little hands and feet with an "oh Finn" or giving you your binky, or tenderly saying "don't cry baby, don't cry" when you are upset. I think he is really going to appreciate the idea of a brother once you can play dinosaurs with him and he can boss you around, something he is pretty good at, and with so many doting adults around I don't blame him.

You are a calm and easy baby. You only seem to get a little fussy when it's time to eat or you are ready to sleep and would like to be held. You've quickly become more alert to your surroundings and attentively make eye contact with me, which I love. You have also started smiling on occasion, an open mouth eyebrows raised toothless baby smile, which I also love. I think you are looking for your little voice most of the time with your tongue working inside your open mouth and your eyebrows curious.

Of course you also sleep a lot too. It's beginning to feel like a bit of a mean trick that newborns sleep so much but their presence means you don't. I'm anxiously waiting for you to sleep more at night, these 1 to 2 hour stints are starting to, well, make me tired. With you around though, Lucas seems so much bigger, and suddenly my perspective on how fast this all goes has sped up by about 100 %. So I am trying to be patient through this frequent waking, little sleeping phase, and enjoy your cuddly little body, your soft skin and fuzzy orange baby hair, your tiny grunts, and exhausted stretches after nursing. You are sweet and patient, and becoming familiar as my new little boy.

Stats at your two week check up
weight 7 lbs 12 oz 40th percentile
length 21 1/4 inches 70th percentile
head 49th percentile

I love you.

Love,

Mom

This Saturday

2011-05-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

According to the forecast the one sunny day smashed between two weeks of rain is this Saturday. Come enjoy the nice weather at the Granary District Block Party. Discover the potential of the Granary District and enjoy some food from local vendors (bring cash), live music, art, face painting, and friends. Hope you can make it.

And so it begins...again

2011-04-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

Finnegan James Alfandre was born quickly in the tub at Great Expectations birth center with the help of Rebecca my midwife and his rock solid dad James. He weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. We are so happy to bring this healthy baby boy home and into our family of four.

After labor I rested in bed and ate the best meal of my life prepared by Rebecca while family came by to visit. Then we headed home with our sleepy little unnamed boy.

Here begins our first night of frequent waking.

Lucas holding his little brother for the first time. Could they really be smiling at each other?

This kid is a voracious sucker. I love you binkies.

Watching Go Diego Go together in bed.

How we have managed the first week of Finn's life. Grandma Sue has been a HUGE help. Lucas has spent fun-filled days with her while I've rested and gotten to know my new son better. Seriously couldn't have done it without her help.

Trying to dye eggs without dyeing the entire house. A half success because Lucas ended up dyeing his entire hands and half his face. The house was saved.

Lucas holding his little brother for the first time.

It's hard to believe the little baby inside my tummy for the past 9 months is actually here in my arms. I am loving snuggling this tiny body and watching his dad and brother love him too. I realize how fast this stage will go when I cuddle Lucas who used to seem so small to me and put him to bed. He is so big now in my eye's and I know Finn will soon be there too. I'm excited to enjoy these sleepless nights and crazy days with two little boys. I have a feeling it will be over lightning quick.

The better half

2011-04-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

While I've been having babies (okay, just one), James has been hard at work on the upcoming Block Party for the Granary District. What does that mean, you might ask? Let me try and explain. The block party is a way to help people envision an ideal neighborhood by creating a temporary neighborhood environment in an area it doesn't currently exist. The Granary District is the area between about 3rd and 6th west and 6th and 9th South in Salt Lake City, along the lines of a planned future street car. James and other interested members of the community and local businesses have been working away at plans to turn the Granary District into a neighborhood with ideas like bringing in trees and plants to improve the street scape, creating bike lanes, wall art, food and art vendors, and much more. Everyone should come to the block party on Saturday May 21st, so put it in your calendar, and if you want to get involved in the planning and implementing of the Block Party join the Granary District blog and connect with other interested peeps, or donate some fundage by checking out this video that explains it all much better than I can. James is passionate about improving the way people live by making it an actual neighborhood, it's been exciting to see his vision come together through his hard work and talent with this project. I want to live in a place he has envisioned where I can walk to most anything I need, I know the people in my hood, and there's interesting shops, buildings, parks, and people.

Big Brother

2011-04-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

Little baby I don't know what you are waiting for because you've got an awesome big brother ready to meet you. That could actually be a big fat lie, because I don't know how ready Lucas is to meet you, but he is really awesome and I know will be a great big brother. It's pretty overwhelming to imagine loving another person as much as I love Lucas but it makes me really grateful we get to grow our family and that Lucas will have a sibling that will love him. Families are cool.

Lucas has a new game with the bassinet addition to our room. He likes to climb on the bed and throw a bunch of clothes in it and then jump on top. "I need more clothes please" is then shouted so he can keep playing. Now how to explain you can't jump in when the baby is in there? Lot's of new learning will be happening around here I have a feeling. Best part of this game though? Knowing that we can potentially live in the basement for two more years since at 2 Lucas fits in the bassinet. Are you listening mom and dad? 2 more years!

See the creepster in the mirror.

Game On

2011-04-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Baby clothes are out of their bins and in drawers, bassinet is out of storage, I got my hair did, my swimming pass is expired, and I'm out of crafty projects and I got my slow jams birth mix from Hilary. Finally ready for little Alfandre boy # 2. I'm not even terrified of labor. Woot Woot. I'm going to kill it.

Nesting

2011-04-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

When you live in somebody's basement, even if it is your parent's, nesting takes on new forms. Although I'd like to sell most of their topiaries and vases that have found their way to the tops of every shelf and table in the basement I've restrained myself and committed to other nesting activities. Cleaning out the basement freezer required a hammer and bucket for all the built on ice (I'm really selling my parents out), but was so satisfying, as was organizing the pen drawer in the kitchen. Then I moved my sights to more crafty pursuits thanks to the world wide interweb for inspiration. Since this could be a one time thing I am documenting my efforts.

These first two projects are from free patterns from Made by Rae

An extremely generous friend from church (Wilma) spent an afternoon helping me make this dress (no I'm not having a girl but all the cute patterns seem to be for girls).

Emily Johnson found this pattern and I'd been begging her to teach me since I saw the cute one's she made for a friend. She was a very patient teacher. Don't look too closely at anything...

These birds were the start of my crafting ambitions and the last things I finished. The original idea is from spool, which I took from Design sponge, and looks much cooler. I wanted this to be a baby mobile in the basement but by the time I finished balancing the twigs it was huge and ended up upstairs.

Too much? I couldn't remember where I found the link for this idea but knew the gist, glitter and shoes. Well I found the link again and I realize i got slightly carried away. It's ok though because fat Dora already ruined these shoes. I think in kid size it could be cute though?

So there you have it. I got my craft on and it was fun.

Because we miss you guys

2011-04-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

Lucas likes singing baa baa black sheep before he goes to bed but he changes the lyrics. Lately it has been, "one for Hannah, one for Madeline, one for Uncle Steve, and Aunt Callie." Even though we don't see the Alfandre cousins much these days we still think about them and miss them lots.

Volleyball

2011-03-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

In the midst of a serious session of volleyball

Birthday Party

2011-03-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

Lucas turned 2 and we celebrated with a very cross-cultural party mostly out of lack of a theme and had pizza, a lion cake, basketball (it is March madness) and a pinata. I think he had a great time with his friends and family that could come.

Lucas had been practicing singing happy birthday to you nearly all month. He had also been asking for a bike for over a month for his birthday (think he got it from one of his books) so we got him the strider no pedal bike. He was not a huge fan. Then Kelly and kids pulled through with a red motorcycle and he LOVES it. We went on an hour ride around the block - yep I love it too!


Party's over.

Visitors

2011-03-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

Grandma Sue and Grandpa Joe came for a visit! Lucas was in heaven. He would wake up from his naps and ask for Grandpa Sue. He loved roaring at Grandpa Joe and spending time with them both doing all of his favorite things. He still requests to read the books grandma and grandpa gave him while they were here. Pretty lucky to be so loved.

Skiing

2011-03-22T13:34:00.000-07:00

Alta offers free skiing after 3:00 on one of it's kid ski lifts. James motivated the family to go up one afternoon and I'm glad he did. Lucas actually loved it, which I was worried about b/c he usually complains after a short time of being in the baby backpack. He wanted to go faster and through the tree's and ski on the "volcano" which I think he got from one of his dinosaur books. I was happy to watch and tag along on some easy runs. We've even made a couple of return trips. It was success!

Swimming

2011-03-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

Before I was ever pregnant I told myself I would swim through my pregnancy to stay in shape because it's a great low impact workout. For some reason swimming always sounds so hard to do, getting in a swimsuit and getting wet for one thing, which is even less awesome when you are quite prego. Anyway I finally made myself go and it was so worth it. You actually feel normal in the water. Moving around is easy and fun again! The only downer was getting out. For one thing I could barely pull myself over the side from the deep end, and walking on land again you feel really heavy. I haven't been completely dedicated but it's my tip of the week (first and probably only) for anyone interested.

Japan

2011-03-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to try and describe the disaster in Japan. The pictures give me a small glimpse of the magnitude of the disaster but I know I have no idea what life there feels like for most right now. I do know I feel like doing something and feel closer to the Japanese people. If you have better ideas of how to help in a meaningful way let me know. For now I know donating could probably give resources to some in need. Here are a couple options, one from apartment therapy with a list of organizations you can donate to, and the other through lds humanitarian services.

Lucas turns 2!

2011-03-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Lucas!

Because I do it 3 times a day, I guess I'll start with meal times with Lucas. I really get sick of feeding him and can't figure out why food has to be bribed and prodded into that belly, but I have made some discoveries. He loves salad. I don't think I ever offered him any, until he started eating other people's and I realized he might like his own. For a picky eater I was surprised. He loves to dip. This helps with the eating process if I incorporate some sort of dipping option. Ketchup is a favorite around here, but he also loves hummus. Not a huge sweet tooth which for some reason feels disappointing but maybe I'm just jealous. Interesting, no?

Language development sure is more fun to watch first hand than read about in books. It seems like I had a lot of child development type classes by the time I got all my learning done. I remember thinking language development sounded pretty impressive, but it's more so to watch with your little one. Lucas has gone quickly from a few words to sentences. He is quite the parrot and repeats a lot of what you say, but also comes up with his own stuff, good examples are not coming to me now though. Except for the other night at dinner when Papa said shit. He also loves to tell his dad when he is being kissed that he is "too scratchy, need to shabe in the shower." He loves to read and count, he's got 1 through 8 down but for some reason drops of that last 9, 10 which really kills my OCD so I finish it for him. He's been especially into dinosaur books.

Music and dancing are still favorites. He got a little guitar that he likes to strum and sing twinkle twinkle little star with. He'll often start singing or humming as he plays or rides in the car and I love it. I am now a mom who drives around with childrens music blasting. I'll sing wheels on the bus on repeat as long as I don't have to listen to screaming in the car. It seems a lot easier. In the beginning Lucas would usually cry and complain "no nursery" when we first started taking him at church. The ladies told me they couldn't get him to stop crying until they turned on some music and he finally stopped and listened. Lucas likes going to nursery now, and the other week looked back at me and said, "bye mom" when I dropped him off. Kind of kills you.

Lucas has started going to the little gym, where he can run around and learn active gymnastics-ish stuff with other kids, and they play music, and he tries to eat the bubbles at the end. He's received several compliments on his two-footed jumping and basketball shooting which he gets a lot of practice on at home. Ever since Mexico when he saw people playing volleyball he has been into that too. He has to step on a specific box and I have to sit on a specific chair when we play volleyball and he hits it to me. His basketball dribbling skills are really improving too. He also likes dressing in his dad's gear and playing with the baseball set his Aunt Anne gave him.

Some not so impressive parenting things about Lucas. He loves tv and will tune everything out when he is watching. This comes in handy and I'm afraid I might take advantage of it when I have this baby. His favorite shows? Anything with music, SuperWhy, Go gabba gabba, backyardigans but really he would watch whatever is on. He is still afraid of the witch from last Halloween. This makes me feel pretty bad that he was exposed to something that has apparently left such a terrifying impression on him. If I'm walking ahead of him, or he has to go into a different room to retrieve a ball, or sometimes just out of no where he will say "witch nice." I've tried to make him believe that the witch is nice and will give him candy because he seems convinced that despite not seeing her she is still very much around. He is also really obsessed about closing doors. If he walks down a hallway with open doors I can guarantee you they will all be closed when he gets to the end. I think I might have that same urge.

Lucas is sweet and sensitive and seems to notice details. He see's a bug on the ground and lays down next to it to say "hi" and inspect it. When he holds his stuffed animals he talks with them and pats their little backs gently. He'll fight with Henry but also give big hugs and share toys. He loves going to the park and being around other kids, playing with the big trucks in the sand and going "wee" down the slides. He also loves the balls at Discovery and looking at the helicopter but not getting in.

He brings loads of happiness into our life and makes me laugh on a daily basis. He is so lucky to have so many people who love him and are an important part of his life.
I love you.
Love,

Mom

You got a minute to win it...time starts now.

2011-03-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I spent two hours waiting for my 30 seconds to tell someone how cool I am so they will let me win 1 million dollars on Minute to Win it. I should hear back in the next week, to 6 months, but will let you know the air date. They don't start filming until summer so don't start holding your breath yet. Actually you might not want to at all, because the odds of me actually getting cast are about .03%. When I talked about myself they didn't write anything down on my questionnaire paper so I'm taking that as a bad sign. I did drag my brother along with me though and we shook hands that if he gets on the show I get 5% of all his winnings so that just increased my odds to about .07%. I would love to meet Guy (I'd probably suggest he try something new with his hair), and I would especially love dominating all the games. If I don't get the spot I'm not too worried though, this isn't Survivor so no major dreams will be crushed.

who says I never post pictures, huh?

Hate coming up with titles

2011-02-26T19:27:00.000-08:00

Welp I've done terribly on my new year's resolution. Pretty typical. I haven't even made the first move of researching volunteer opportunities in an area i'm interested in. I secretly want to volunteer at the rape crisis center which I learned about in DC but it looks like the one in this area is in Orem? Or that could be my lack of researching that I haven't discovered the SLC one. Anyone know? I also have this growing excuse in my belly of not starting anything (anything at all) because soon I will have to quit it and devote my life to the feeding and diapering of two children. This is not true, but has become true thanks to my firm use of it as an excuse. Pregnancy is easy for me, especially when I talk to people that it is a life ruiner for, but I'm still really excited to not be pregnant anymore. Sleeping on my back, putting on pants or shoes without overheating and panting, not running into walls or people because I forget how wide I am - kind of over it. I still get little shock waves of terror when I think of how this baby has to get here, but I'm also really excited for that experience. I've been trying to pin point a good conversational reason for why I want to birth naturally. I feel like it should be backed by logical reasons but really a big part of it for me is that I want to do it to prove it to myself. I know I can it's just a matter of doing it and I want to know what that is like for me. Like running a marathon I guess. Does it really sound fun to anyone to run 26.2 miles on the same day in a row, or do you just want to prove it to yourself that you can do it? That's not my only reason and I know it isn't physically like running a marathon, but sometimes the proving it to myself is a significant reason. Anyway. That would be cool if my new year's resolution was to have a baby with no med's. I'd pretty much have it checked off my list in about 7 weeks. Unfortunately I really would like to be a better person and give back maybe just a little. If anyone reading this needs something, a babysitter, pair of pants, a date on Friday, etc, give me a call it would help me out with keeping my resolution. James is in NYC right now. I have repeatedly complained about how I don't like Hire's (the restaurant) and how it makes me sick, and why why why do we have to go either there or Su Casa if we eat out with my parents. (I know, quit eating out with your parents you live with them, get a life already - thank you). Then tonight when I'm riding solo with Lucas where do I decide to go? I seriously couldn't think of anything else that sounded easy with a kid and good. I'm very satisfied with my Hire's big H burger in my belly right now but also a little sick and very disappointed in myself. It did beat eating eggs or pasta for the 80th meal in a row and I didn't mind having someone else clean up after us, but really. Salt Lake where are your restaurants? What should I have done? I guess I owe Hire's an apology. I hope James takes advantage of NYC and eats much better than me. Can you tell I'm bored? Me too.

Name Game

2011-02-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

A conversation with my two nephews and niece while driving to tai kwon do went something like this.
me: do you guys have any name ideas for me?
them: well it depends what he looks like
me: what do you mean?
them: well like if he has orange or red hair then you should name him Joe or Sam.
me: And what if he doesn't?
them: then you have a lot more options. (pause) Like Timmy or Mike. Mike is a strong guys name.

So there you have it.

Still not spring

2011-02-08T12:42:00.003-08:00

These pictures are admittedly old, but I could take the same snowy shot today.

Where are you spring?

Tulum, Mexico

2011-02-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

My parents saved us from the long cold month of January and for Christmas took the family for a week in Tulum, Mexico. It was amazing, unfortunately we had to come home. I took pictures of the first five minutes we were there and the last ten. In my defense our camera broke for most of the trip. Anyway, here they are.

Lucas and Henry loved putting the flippers on. They would put them on at the house and make the long trek down to the beach. Pretty entertaining, like little penguins.

People say me and Lucas don't look alike, but maybe in this picture making the same gorgeous face, there is a resemblance?

You can tell Henry is a thumb sucker by the way he's go Lucas' binky upside down.

Views from the house we stayed in. It didn't suck.

I loved this. A different towel animal every day.

Now for the last ten minutes of the trip. This beach is Playa Maya, like the rest of the beaches we went to, the sand was fine and white and the water turquoise. Harder to see in the setting sun, but still beautiful.

Not the whole trip crew, but an adorable shot, none the less.

Flying like birds on the beach.

I'm thinking we might have this same picture in 10 more years, hopefully without the binky and wubbie. Reaching the age they can watch tv and movies definitely has it's perks.

Bye!

This was an awesome trip. The house was great and the people that helped there were incredibly nice. James created a love affair with Manuel. It's hard to compete, or blame James, when Manuel took him spear fishing and night spear fishing, probably James' favorite part of the trip besides the tacos al pastor. We spent a lot of time hanging on the beach and enjoying not being in snow and cold. We also spent an exciting day at Xel Ha, where the adults (yes, I joined in) voluntarily wore the middle (crack) strap of the life jacket and everything was included so we ate as much food as we weren't hungry for as possible. Depending on who you ask this place was the highlight of the trip, just don't ride the bikes because it's all uphill. Trips aren't really that fun to hear about if you weren't there, unless you are a travel writer which I'm suprisingly not, so I'll just leave you with that.