Talk, Talk, Talk

I have been very bad about taking my camera places with me this week! No new pictures! We had a busy week though. In fact, Scott and I have been thinking we've been a little too busy lately. I think we are going to stop planning so much and hanging around the house more.
On Thursday, Finn and I went to this new place near the house called Unpluggits. It is an indoor playground and craft area for kids. We went with Melissa and her boys. The playground was actually closed, but we hung out at the craft place for awhile and Finn played around. He even made a little painting. By the time we left, he had gotten into the markers and had made another lovely painting on his face! We went to eat lunch at Panera, but Finn was worn out by then and had a little meltdown in the restaurant, so we ending up leaving Melissa there to finish her meal. Good news is that his tears mostly washed off the markers!
The first thing I did on Saturday morning was to go out to the natural foods store and buy some coconut oil and apple cider vinegar. I read online that taking a tablespoon of each in a glass of hot water would give you a natural energy boost. I came home (exhausted) and made up the concoction (with a little honey for flavor) and chugged it. Within 10 minutes I felt much better! In fact, the energy lasted throughout the day! I was really surprised! I have been struggling not to drink coffee this pregnancy and I have been really exhausted for weeks! Actually, probably since I became pregnant! The last few weeks have been really awful. Sometimes I can barely muster the energy to change Finn's diaper. And I been very cranky because of it too. I drank my little concoction again this morning and it is amazing what all I have gotten done today! I've probably done more today than I have all week! It's not like a sugar rush or anything either, it's more of a natural energy--the type I would have if I wasn't pregnant. Anyway, Scott has been taking a little apple cider vinegar too and noticed a definite change in his energy level too. There are supposedly all sorts of health benefits from taking a little each day--my mother bought me a book all about it.
Anyway, Finn has been in a much better mood this week. He still seems to be teething because he is always chomping on his hand, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him as much. He has just loved to repeat everything I say this week! I really have to watch it! He has also come up with a lot of phrases that he's been repeating:
-"Wait Mama! WAIT!"--he screams this almost everytime I move.
-"Memo!"--This is his way of telling me he wants to watch Finding Nemo, his new favorite thing in the world.
-"Hungy"-This means "hungry" which he says all the time, but then when I make him food, he won't eat it.
-"Bye Bye _____"-He says bye bye to EVERYTHING lately--the house, his shoes, his crayons,
-"Tire, Hai-ey"- This is for his little friends Tyler and Hailey, who he just randomly starts talking about all the time. I think he just likes to repeat their names.
-"Cake"-Finn has had about a ton of cake this week from all the birthday parties we've gone to (3 total). He calls just about anything sweet or yummy cake now.
We went to Tyler's birthday party on Saturday and Finn had a great time. Becca has a lot of cool toys in her backyard (including a motorized train on a track that the kids can ride) and it's all so organized and clean back there! It's inspired me to clean up my backyard. Finn has a ton of toys out there, but my backyard is so muddy that they all get kinda dirty. Maybe now that I've found the energy, I'll do more about it. Anyway, Finn had a great time at the party. He spent a lot of time being the crazy kid in the pool that splashes everybody. When they brought out Tyler's cake, I had to hold him back so that he didn't devour it before the candles were even blown out. He then proceeded to lick the icing off his cupcake for 10 minutes before dropping in on his shirt. But, not to worry, we did salvage it and he stuffed the whole thing in his mouth (that's my boy!).
Tonight, we hung out around the house and had a little birthday celebration for my mother--complete with more cake. Afterward, we went to the Taste of Edmond. This is something that I have wanted to go to for the last 2 years, but something always comes up and we can't make it. It was pretty good! You buy a wristband for $10, and then you can eat at 30 different restaurant booths. The only catch is that you have to wait in line--many of which you can't even find the end to. It was crowded, but not too bad. Usually I freak out in crowds, but that apple cider vinegar must be working for me because I didn't even yell. The food was very good and I have an extremely full tummy now!

New Cute Pictures

We went to a birthday party this morning and here are some new cute pictures of Finn:

A lot going on this week!

We have done so much this week! No wonder I'm exhausted! On Wednesday, we got a 4D ultrasound done on Baby Girl. We did this for Finn and it was so reassuring to see that he had all his little parts and was growing well, that we decided to do it again for this baby. She is growing perfectly! They measured all of her and she is just perfect! Unfortunately, she was breech and facing my back at the time, so it was really difficult to get a good shot of her face. We did get a couple of decent pictures though:

On Thursday, we went to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. I love going there because Finn can basically just run around while I watch him. He had such a good time too! Scott played a bunch of games with him, he ate the pizza and cake and he loved Chuckie. I think it was THE time of his short little life! We've always planned on having his 3rd birthday there, but I started debating whether or not to have his 2nd there because he just had so much fun. I think we're going to still plan on having it at home for now, but we'll definitely have to start taking more trips there.

On Saturday, my mom, my sister, Finn and I drove down to Grapevine to visit my Aunt Debi. On the way, we stopped at the IKEA in Frisco. I was SO excited to go there! Their stuff is so cool and so incredible cheap! I had never been to one before and the store was humongous! It was about the size of a mall. I wish I had taken a picture. Inside, you go through their showrooms first. They have all their furniture set up as little rooms with tags on them that tell you where you can buy it. We browsed for a little while and then skipped ahead to the children's area. The kid's stuff was so cool! I bought some things for Finn and Baby Girl's room. After you load up on the showroom stuff, you go through this warehouse where you can pick out boxes of furniture that you've seen. I would love to redecorate someday and just go there and load up. I would definitely need some sort of trailer or UHAUL though.

We spent the rest of Saturday at my Aunt's house. Her neighborhood is beautiful and had a great park nearby. Finn kept me really busy though. He was REALLY well-behaved, but still very active. I had help, but I still barely had a chance to sit down. I was very relieved to put him to sleep that night (and to put myself to sleep too). On Sunday, we woke up and went swimming in my Aunt Debi's pool. This was the only time I took pictures this weekend! I meant to take more, but I barely had time to go to the bathroom, let alone grab a camera. I really did want to take some pics of my Aunt Debi, Uncle Charlie and cousin Marni though since I rarely get to see them. Anyway, after swimming we went shopping at Grapevine Mills where I got to see the Sanrio (Hello Kitty) store! While I DO love Hello Kitty, shopping really wore us out. We went to eat and then left for home. All in all, it was a successful trip because I got to visit with my family and Finn was really good, but I don't think I'll be making any more trips in the near future. I am too pregnant and too hormonal to attempt it again.

At first Finn didn't really like the pool:But then he warmed up to it:

This week is also pretty full and I'm still exhausted, so I may let a few things slide--I already skipped one playdate this morning. I'm going to the library later to pick up some potty training books. I think I'm going to start working on that with Finn. Wish me luck!

Our Week in Pictures and Video

We've had a somewhat busy week. Sunday was Father's Day, but Scott scheduled himself to work, so we only had the morning with him. We all went out for breakfast. After naptime, we met my family for lunch and then went over to my parents' house for some yummy apple dump cake. We tried taking Finn to the park nearby but it was SO HOT! Lately, we have at least had a breeze to cool us down, but there was nothing that day.

Monday, we had a playdate at a friend's house. It was with my mom's group, so there were a TON of kids there. Finn was very irritable the whole time. He's still having teething issues. He is constantly chewing on his fingers (of feet--which is cute, but not when we've just finished playing at McDonalds). Another girl let me hold her baby daughter at the playdate and Finn was NOT happy about it. Becca tried to get him to say hi to the baby while I was holding her, but he just kept telling her "bye-bye." I'm afraid he's gonna put a hit out on her next. He is definitely going to have to transition when we have Baby Girl.

Monday afternoon we were supposed to go to the spraygrounds, but the weather was acting real funny. For the last couple of days it hasn't decided whether it's going to be sunny or rainy, so it switches back and forth about every 2 hours. Today was much nicer though, so we went this morning. I met Becca and Nicolette up there with their kids and got lots of great shots:

Finn and Tyler:Finn, wearing Hailey's shoes:

Finn and Sawyer, stuck in the mud:At the playground nearby:Afterward, we went to the McDonalds nearby where Finn tried to befriend anyone with food, while avoiding eating his own (I eventually got it down him). That kid is such a handfull! As soon as I am engaged in something, he totally wanders away from me. He tried to walk right out the front door while I was ordering, then he wandered off to some far away booth. It really is just endless. He has no concept of the need to stay close to me. Keep your fingers crossed that Baby Girl will be more clingy and give me somewhat of a break!

Anyway, I made another cloth diaper this week and thought I'd show it off. The one on the left is one I made for Finn and on the right is one I made for Baby Girl. Bending over the sewing machine really killed my back, so I'm not exactly eager to make another.

The rest of our week is pretty busy too. Scott has the day off tomorrow and we have another birthday party to go to. Friday I work. On Saturday, Finn and I are going to Dallas with my mom to visit my Aunt Debi. I'm really excited to go see her (and visit IKEA), but I'm also quite scared because we haven't traveled too much with Finn before. The last time, I forgot to take his white noise machine, so he kept waking up at night. He wasn't fussy, but it was just hard for him to sleep. We tried to bring him into bed with us, but he had no idea that it was with the intention to sleep. He thought we wanted to play or something because he has only ever slept in his crib. But, it's only one night, so I'm sure everything will work out.

Lastly, here is a cute video of Finn:

Splash Time with Granny

Yesterday, we were invited to a kid's birthday party at one of those cool spraygrounds. We had never been to this one before because it was FAR away in Norman. The birthday boy was the son of one of Sharyn's (my mother in law) work collegues. Finn had a great time and we got so many pictures! It was hard to choose which ones to post because I had so many!

On top of that, we moved Finn's toddler bed into his room. It's really crowded in there now! We kept the crib in there for the time being since I'm not ready to have him start sleeping in the bed yet. I thought about it, but I'm just not sure what strategy to use yet. He is such an active little guy, I'm afraid he would just get right back up and play in his room all night. We have a cute little bassinet for the new baby to sleep in, so I'm thinking about keeping her in that for the first few months and not moving him to the toddler bed until around Christmas. That seems like the simplest thing to do and simple is good! For now, he likes reading books in it.

Daddy Day

Scott had the day off, so we hung out with him today. He took Finn to the park while I went to my doctor's appointment. The baby is growing just perfect! Everything is going really well with the pregnancy. After that we went out to eat at Pei Wei, but Finn had a meltdown and we had to pack up and go. He's been teething so bad lately! Every little thing really makes him mad.
After Finn's nap we gave him some Motrin and that helped SO much! He was still chewing on his hand though. Then we went to the spraygrounds, but I FORGOT TO BRING MY CAMERA! Finn was SO cute playing too. And the spraygrounds is such a cool place--especially for someplace that is completely free! We'll probably go back again next week, so I'll be sure to snap some pics then.
After the spraygrounds we went to visit my friend Melissa at her new house. It was really nice. They just put in dark bamboo hardwood floors and it looked great! I'm very excited too, because the new house isn't as far away as I originally thought (although I was really hoping she would move right next to me!)

Sock it to me!

Finn has been obsessed with his socks lately! He goes and picks some out then brings them to you to put on him, and most of the time they don't even match. He also likes to layer. Here he is with mismatched socks, being very grumpy:

This grumpiness has been a theme in our house lately. He has been teething very badly and I am so hoping that this is the last round! We went to the zoo this morning and I forgot to give him some teething medicine first, so he chewed on his hand nearly the entire time. We LOVE the playground at the zoo! Sometimes we go to the zoo just to play at the playground. It looks like a bunch of forts and has so many places to climb around or crawl through. Today Finn tackled the rope bridge and zoomed right up it!

We, of course, went with Nicolette and Sawyer. She is going on vacation soon and I don't know what we are going to do for a couple of weeks! Sawyer is awesome with the animals. He knows what nearly all of them are and he'll make their noises. Finn isn't so much interested in them. He just wants to get out of his stroller and run around. That quality is just so typical Finn. I love that he is independent, but it has become very troublesome lately. I am getting larger by the week, and it is getting so much harder to run after him! I feel like I have to tackle him for nearly everything we do and it wears me down a lot. Here he is with Sawyer (he hardly ever sits still long enough for me to get his picture):

On the same note, this pregnancy has been a lot harder on me. Like I said, it is exhausting to run after a toddler all day! And I think I have been more hormonal this time too. Little things have really been stressing me out--like when Finn won't eat his vegetables (I did get him to eat cauliflower last night though! It totally made my day!) I got to get out of the house Monday night for my mom's group book club discussion. It was just the therapy I needed. We all sat around and ate and talked about what we love/hate about being a stay at home mom. I ended up thinking that I am really lucky to be in the position I am in. I get to be home with Finn, I get to get out of the house a couple days a week and make some money, and I get to hang out with some great ladies and their kids. Sometimes I think I overcomplicate things, so I just have to remember KISS (keep it simple stupid!).

Scott has the day off tomorrow and I have a doctor's appointment in the morning. Pretty soon I have to start going every other week! I'm so glad that this is getting close. I am really ready to have a little baby again. I always thought I was more of a toddler person, and I love my toddler of course, but I am definitely a baby person too. It's going to be so much fun this time too! With Finn, I did the whole new-mom stress-out thing. I was always worried that he wasn't stimulated enough or wasn't being held enough or whatnot. Now I know more of what's important and what's not. And I've learned so many tricks! Anyway, I think we should do something fun tomorrow with Scott. Maybe the spraygrounds!

New Toy!

It's so amazing how once you start to understand your kid's "language" you realize they are saying all sorts of cute stuff. The other day we were riding in the car and Finn says "Mama! We're in the car!" Today we were in the car and he took off his shoes and started playing with his toes, saying "wee, wee, wee." He was trying to do the little piggies rhyme! He's been working on learning songs lately too. He will sing "Row Row Row Your Boat" and "The Wheels on the Bus" but his favorite is still the ABC song.

Another "cute" thing he did the other day while Scott was watching him was to take off his diaper and hide it. Scott couldn't find it anywhere until he went to the bathroom. He lifted the lid of the toilet and sure enough it was in there! I guess since Finn always sees me rinsing off his cloth diapers in there he thought that was where they went!

Another "Finnism" lately is whenever he is looking for something (shoes, keys, whatever), he will run around the house shouting "____ WHERE ARE YOU?" And, although he still answers "no" to just about everything, he has also taken to answering "okay," BUT he does so in this really loud voice! It's more of "OOOOH-KAY!" Very cute.

Anyway, Finn's granny bought him a new toy this week--a water slide! We pumped it up last night so he could play. However, we couldn't fit the hose on the nozzle, so we just let him play with the hose while on it. Eventually he just got so interested in the hose that it was all he wanted to play with. He even ended up hosing down his granny. Here are some pics and a video!

Shopping and Friend Time

Wow! It is so windy today! I hung up some laundry outside and I really hope I don't lose any!

I've found that I'm not very good at splurging. Nicolette and I dragged the boys (the "Twain boys" as she calls them) to a very cute baby boutique today and they had a ton of cute girls stuff. But the whole time I'm thinking, "I could totally make this for way cheaper." It is amazing what you can charge when you put it in a cute sack and wrap it in tissue paper! So, I didn't actually buy anything. But I do plan on hitting the fabric store later to recreate some of the things I saw! Also, Nicolette showed me some of the diapers she has sewn and I think I could do it too. She's probably explained how to do it for me about 5 times, but I swear I can't figure it out until I actually SEE something, so I think now I can figure out how to make Baby Girl some diaps. I've got a lot of sewing projects to keep busy!

Before shopping, we tried taking the boys to a little play at the library. Sawyer wasn't even interested in going in (it was pretty loud and there were a ton of people). Finn went in, but once in there, he was the LOUDEST child in the room! Anytime they wanted you to laugh or clap, he would be HYSTERICAL in his enthusiam. I think it was bugging some of the other moms, so we left after about 5 mins. Which was cool with Finn because he would much rather run away from me and play hide and seek in the library anyway. But, I must gloat a little and say that we went to a playdate yesterday morning and he was SO well-behaved! He wasn't his usual crazy-loud self (which I love of course, but it wears out quickly when you are trying to make conversation at a playdate).

We had Nicolette and Sawyer over yesterday to play also. Here is a cute pic of the boys playing:

Nicolette got some really good ones that you can see here. They are so cute together!

Finn also tried his hand at photography and snapped these:

And finally, here is a pic of me at 27 weeks pregnant:

Gifts! Gifts! Gifts!

My aunties gifted me this weekend! Every summer my mom and her two sisters go on a little vacation and this time she brought back some stuff from them for Baby Girl! My aunt Debi came back with her too, but we only got to visit for about 45 minutes before her flight left. We will hopefully get to go visit her later this month in Dallas! Anyway, Baby Girl got some more cute clothes, some picture frames, a little Kewpie doll and some closet dividers. I'm really excited about the closet dividers! They break up the clothes by age and are such a smart idea! That way you don't mix up all the different sizes of baby clothes. They also gave me some money which I am trying to decide how to spend. I wanted to start a savings account for her, but you need a social security number for that, which we won't get for another 6 months. I was talking to my Aunt Debi about girly stuff and she asked, "So she gets to be a girl?" and I said, "As much as I know how to let her be." I've always thought that if I had a girl she would be a little tomboy because I am so practical and frugal that I don't usually splurge on girly stuff. So, I thought maybe I would take some of that extra money and splurge a little on her! Get some cute bows for her hair or some flowery organic baby lotion or something that I wouldn't normally buy. I just don't want to spend it on doctor bills or anything. I should get her something cute and girly.

This all got me thinking about a baby shower. My friend offered to throw me one, but she is in the middle of moving and pregnant herself, so I certainly don't want to cause her anymore stress. And I really have SO much already. I saved everything from Finn, except his bottles. Bottles are probably the only essentials I need. None of his were bpa-free, so I trashed them. (They were all kinda old and leaky too). I still have all his bibs, towels, blankets, and sheets too, but they are all blue and very used. So I might go splurge on some new girly ones. If I don't end up having a shower, maybe we'll just get some cake and punch and decorations after she is born and invite some people over to toast her birth!

Anyway, here is a picture of the baby's room. It's not very detailed because all we've really done is paint, put up curtains and move the baby furniture in there. I need to find some flowery pictures for the walls. I was thinking about getting some of those wall stickers too. Maybe some daisy ones in pink and yellow.

Yoga Baby

This morning, Scott and I were just sitting around talking and Finn went and grabbed my yoga mat. He took his time rolling it out on the floor and then went and turned on the tv. Scott turned it to my yoga show and Finn sat down on the mat and started doing yoga! It was so random! I rarely do yoga anymore so it was so funny that he thought of it. He laid down on his belly and tried to stretch out like the ladies on tv, then he would sit down and raise his hands over his head and bring them down into a little bow. By the time we had grabbed the camera he had stopped already, but it was too cute!
I also forgot to mention that I picked this daisy background for my blog because it is kinda the "theme" I'm going for in Baby Girl's room. We were initially going to go with purple and green, but Scott pointed out that those are the colors in OUR room (I know what I like!), so I thought I'd change it up for her. We've painted the room a soft orangey/peachy color and I made some bright orange daisy curtains. We're mainly going for a orange/yellow/pink theme. I spent HOURS looking for what I wanted in baby decor online and in stores, but it's really hard to find themes in orange, which is why I eventually just made my own curtains. I still plan on making a bed skirt too. Anyway, I will have to post some pictures of the room soon!