Lots of Fun coming!

Finn is very adamant about not wanting to wear a costume for Halloween! We have a ton of them already, in particular, I was wanting him to wear a cute full-body lion suit. But, he is having none of it! So, when we went to the Haunt the Zoo trick-or-treat trail on Monday, he was a...(drumroll please!)...lumberjack? Farmer? Canadian? I put him in overalls, flannel shirt and one of those goofy hats for warmth. I think he was the only kid there with no costume. I don't blame him though. I don't really like to dress up either. I only go as far as to put on a "Trick-or-Treat" shirt and then I call it a day.

Kinley is super easy! You just throw anything you want on her. I bought her a super warm ladybug costume. She was very content to just sit all bundled up for the whole trail!

Anyway, I am so excited that the election is less than a week away! I've recently been thinking about education more since I realized both my kids will start school during this adminstration! I think Obama will be so great for this! I know McCain has a ton of kids and I'm sure he cares about education too, but Obama's girls are school age NOW. It's obviously going to be weighing on his mind more. I just think that if you have children, McCain is too big of a gamble right now. I want change for my children and not the down-ward spiral that has been going on for the last 8 years. Just wanted to put that out there!

We are still planning on doing more Halloween activities. We have a party tomorrow and hopefully we will be doing another trick-or-treat trail this week too! Finn really loved doing the one at the zoo. We're not going to go trick-or-treating though. I think he's old enough, but his lack of a costume would be a problem (although I did buy him a "Trick-or-Treat" shirt to match mine). Also, I seriously think he would want to enter every house we went to and make friends! He is such a friendly little guy!

I forgot to mention that Tonya and I threw a baby shower for our friend Melissa last weekend. I think it went really well and she got a TON of great stuff for her little boy, to be named Phoenix. YAY Melissa!

Also, I have been meaning to post a beer bread recipe on here. Tonya (who just started her own blog on Blogspot) gave this to me and it is so simple and yummy! All you do is mix 3 c. self-rising flour, 1 c. (or less) sugar or Splenda (I've tried both and it tastes the same) and a can of beer (or any type of soda you want. Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees. It's really yummy to rub some butter on the top halfway through. I've been making a loaf every few days for the last month or so b/c it is so good!

Fun Times

My mom is so lucky to have 2 great sisters. They are all really close in age, and even though they live in 3 different cities, they make a big effort to stay really close. Once a year, they have a "sisters weekend" trip where they travel somewhere together and just hang out. I think it's pretty cool. They already had their sisters weekend this year, but they decided to all hang out together in the city this weekend, which meant they came to visit us and the new baby! I thought I would put up a few pictures of my aunties to make them "famous!" Finn really enjoyed seeing them (they DID bring some pretty cool gifts!) and is still talking about "Aunt Doby" and drinking from Aunt Glenda's water bottle.

Also this weekend, we made some Halloween cookies! They actually turned out a lot better than I expected. I usually have high expectations for my crafty projects until I realize I forgot an ingredient or something else goes wrong. But on this one, I was pleasantly surprised!

Here's Finn enjoying one:

A Few of the Rejects...

We didn't order any of these because of the funny faces, but they're still cute!

Cowboy Museum and Pics

We went to the Cowboy Museum yesterday with Nicolette and Sawyer. Honestly, it didn't have a whole lot to do for kids, I think we only spent an hour there. But the boys still had a pretty good time. It was a really rainy day, so we didn't get to view the gardens, which is really the highlight of the whole place (in my opinion).

Also, this morning, we got Kinley's pictures taken! We were supposed to do it earlier this week, but her face rash reappeared. I think it was because I had a glass of milk, but I'm not certain. Here are some cute ones:

A Boy and His Dog & Ch-ch-ch-changes

Finn has been having such a great time with Addy outside lately. (The weather is just BEAUTIFUL!) Usually, they just chase each other and collect sticks, but yesterday, Addy was digging holes. Finn would then come over, push Addy away (I know, what a bully!) and then sit in his hole so he couldn't dig! Addy was smart though. He had 2 holes next to each other, so if Finn sat in one, then he would just go dig on the other. Finn was running back and forth between the holes, plunking his butt on each one! Also, Finn got a new outdoor toy! His Granny found him a little house at a garage sale! He loves it!

Here he is sitting on his hole (and yelling at the dog):

And here he is in his new house:

As for the bedrooms...they are all changed! We moved the crib into Kinley's room and rearranged Finn's room. We knew he wasn't going back to the crib now, so we figured the time was right to just switch it up! Finn is so cool with changes. He's never necessarily been attached to anything other than his pacifier. He couldn't have cared less that we moved his room around.

Here's Kinley's new arrangement (a bedskirt is on my shopping list):

And Finn's:

I think Kinley likes her new bed!:

And here's just some cute pics:

Bye Bye Crib!

Finn NAPPED in his toddler bed today! Yesterday he just kept getting up and playing, so I thought it was hopeless, but today he napped! He really didn't want to get in his crib, so I told him if he didn't stay in his bed and sleep, then I would have to put him in there. So, he messed around a little, but didn't leave the bed, and then he fell asleep! I'm so proud! That crib is history!

Smiley Girl

He Did It!

Finn slept in his toddler bed last night! I wasn't even planning on putting him in it, but when I told him it was bed time, he climbed right in! I gave him his blanket and he laid down and put it over himself. It was like it was the most natural thing in the world! It's so funny how when it's time for a change, your kid will just let you know! Anyway, he slept all night without incident in there. I'm so proud! AND it gets even better! Kinley slept in her bassinet all night! I've found that she just groans in her sleep and I just have to ignore it. I thought there was something wrong with her before, so I would hold her in our bed while we slept, but I guess she's just a noisy sleeper. Now that Finn is out of the crib, I can put her in her room soon and not have to hear it!

A lot of hands, and 2 feet

Finn has started doing arts and crafts with me! It's really cool because with the holidays coming up there are all sorts of fun things to draw and make. And it's an awesome way to teach him all his colors! We did pumpkin pictures today (that's Finn's above--he filled in the "face") and then I started outlining his hands and he loved it so much we had to do it about 20 times! It's so cool that he understands Halloween so much more this year. I hope he'll be excited about the costume part too!

A Day at the Farm

We had such a busy weekend! We went to Ari and Noah's birthday party. I didn't bring my camera, but you can see a cute picture here. Kinley wore such a cute little party dress, but no one really got to see it because she slept the whole time in her carseat! It was actually great for me because then I only had to worry about watching one child. Finn had a super time. He got there and jumped right into the baby pool fully clothed! He loves getting together with his buddies Noah and Sawyer! Here's Kinley in here cute dress:

Finn has been obsessed lately with his Baby Einstein Farm DVD. (The kid is obsessed with DVD's in general--he loves to pile them up and carry them around the house!). So, I was really excited that it was time to go to the pumpkin patch! We went to Chester's Party Barn in Piedmont and had an awesome time! Granny and Auntie came too! Finn got to ride a pony:

Take a wheelbarrow and a hay ride:

Pick out a pumpkin:

And do all sorts of other cool things!

Afterward he looked like this:

Anyway, in the world of Kinley: Her face rash and goopy eyes have gotten better! I guess her tear ducts finally opened up because her eyes don't constantly have green gunk in them. Also, she's gotten a really bad fash rash the last couple of weeks. I thought it was just normal baby acne, but the doctor said it was probably a reaction to something that I had eaten and passed on to her through my milk. I cut out all chocolate, peanut butter, honey and excess milk and her face is getting better! Now I just have to add them back in one by one to figure out what it is! The doc said it is most likely chocolate (bummer). Here's what she looked like yesterday:

In the world of ME: I've been working at the bank for 7 years next month! How time flies! I can't believe I'm even old enough to have worked someplace for 7 years! It's been a great job. In case anyone was wondering, after all the kids are in school, I plan on applying to the library. I sometimes wish I had gotten a master's in Library Science instead of Geography. But, I've talked to librarians and they mostly say that it doesn't matter much. I've always loved the library and I've been thinking for years that it would make a great job for me. Also, I have a yucky cold. I had a bad reaction to some medication on Friday (and when I say bad, I mean dry heaving!). It left me with a raw throat and some yucky congestion. I hope it goes away soon!

The Half-Naked Chef

Finn and I were reading his Cookie Monster book where Cookie scarfs a bunch of different-shaped cookies yesterday. I thought--Hey! Finn and I should make cookies and use the cookie cutters to make different shapes! Man, am I a great mom or what?

So, we pushed a chair up to the counter and started putting all the ingredients together. Finn mixed them up and helped himself to the sugar. I edited the applesauce-oatmeal cookie recipe that I had to include pumpkin puree and a few other spices.


WELL--we had a couple of hitches. First, I forgot that the only cookie cutters I own are a star, a stocking and a Christmas tree. And, the recipe I made wasn't really for roll out cookies. They were more the globby kind that you drop on a cookie sheet. I disregarded these facts and decided that Halloween sprinkles would make them perfect anyway. Our cookies ended up looking like this:


Delicious, huh? I bet you would love one! (I ended throwing them all away b/c they tasted like poo).

Reflux Rewind

So, Kinley has acid reflux just like Finn did. I'm certainly not glad, but I am happy to know why she has been so fussy. And we caught it so much earlier this time! With Finn, I didn't give him medication until he was 4 months old because I was scared of it. He grew out of it around 9 months, and I figure Kinley will too. Poor girl. I'm already seeing some improvement. She spent the whole night in her bassinet! Usually I have to fall asleep sitting up and holding her upright. This was SO much better! (although I do admit I missed holding her a tiny bit).
We have really been invalids this last week. It was sort of bumming me out too. But yesterday we got out with Nicolette and Sawyer and today Scott and I took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese (I asked Finn what he wanted to do this morning and right off he says "Chuckie Cheez!"). I need to start planning more stuff again so that we can rejoin the living. I'll just have to accept that I will look less than my usual beautiful self while doing it (my haircut right now does nothing to hide my cowlick and God knows I have no time to fix it).

Bath time!

We gave Kinley her first real bath last night (all the other's have just been sponge baths so far). She LOVED it! She sat there and squirmed around a little and just loved sitting in the water. I think she was even trying to smile during it. She was so content to chill in the water, it was adorable! I might have to start doing it everyday!

In the world of Finn:

He's been having a bit of a hard time lately. I don't know if he's teething again or just suddenly noticing the decreased amount of attention he's been getting. He's just been a little...needy. And needy for a 2 year old is very tiring! Also, I found him a few times inside Kinley's baby bassinet, sucking on her pacifier. Poor guy. I've been trying to give him more of my undivided attention the last couple of days. However, he is still smart as ever! He has started counting very well! He can make it to 20, and it's getting good at counting things as well. I'll ask him how many crayons he has and about half the time he'll count to the right number (the other half he just keeps counting past the right number). He's also getting better at his colors too. Most of the time he gets it right (his default answer if he doesn't know is just "blue"). He has also been very cute about repeating everything we say. You don't realize how much you say certain things until your toddler starts repeating them to a banana: "Hi nana. How you doin? Me Bubba."

Here's Kinley doing one of her model poses:

And her she is looking like a Dr. Suess character: