Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Walking Time Bomb

So as of today Finn is 17 months and 1 day old. Since he was born we, his parents and his grandparents, all marveled at how he was such an easy baby. He slept well almost right from the start, he was content with me dragging him all over town doing this and that, he was a spectacular eater and gave me no problems with breastfeeding or transitioning to solids, he rarely fussed for anything. I spent a lot of time knocking on wood and wondering how I must have great Karma and well maybe I'll have three, you know, we'll see.

Then around 16 months eye teeth started to come in and wreak havoc on his mouth, speech was beginning to develop, and mah baby who was content just walking around the house playing nicely started running around the house and climbing on the furniture testing limits any which way he could. All of a sudden he noticed he had all of these mad skillz and dammit he was going to USE them. I also started participating a lot more in playgroup activities with this local mom's group I joined. The events are usually once a week in the AM. Well at this point Finn is still napping twice a day so I started playing around with his sleep schedule to attend these events. NOT A GOOD IDEA. Ever hear the phrase "let a sleeping dog lie"? It applies to Finn as well.

So back to this mom's group we joined. So yeah, I just HAD to go and join the ONE damn mom's group in all of St.Louis where each and every child (15-24months) is the most well-behaved, laid back, well-mannered, developmentally advanced child I have ever met. You think I am exaggerating (I know I tend to do that). Unfortunately, I am not this time. Their angels all sleep until 7-8AM and take one long afternoon nap and they have been doing this since their first birthdays. Their children say please and thank-you or sign it to you when they can't say it, and sit quietly in there mothers laps during story time and puppet shows. WTF???? I mean come on, there is even one mom who just had her second baby and she effortlessly straps the baby in her sling and her 20-some month old son patiently hovers by her side. Her newborn is always sleeping and I never heard her cry or make a single sound and I have occasionally peaked in on her to make sure she was a human and not some doll she carries around posing as her newborn child. Now as I write this I must say that Finn is STILL a good toddler by anybodies standards. He wakes every morning around 6:30AM (even after pushing back his bedtime from 8 to 7:30). He needs a nap around 10:30 (right in the middle of all of the playgroup activities) and if he doesn't get his sleep he proves to be quite challenging. This includes and is not limited to, running around new places and trying to escape out open doors, protesting when we have to leave (no he doesn't say "Please mama, can we stay?"), and NOT sitting quietly for anything. I look like a harried frantic mess while other moms smile politely at me (yeah, can you imagine???). I am the only one who has had to leave early because god forbid we get out of the pool after 2 hours of playing and have a DAMN SNACK. Sometimes I think I should just quit going to the playgroup all together until his sleep schedule is sorted out but then where would his socialization come in? Not to mention that it is not ALL bad. After all, he has had some less rowdy more peaceful days and he has learned to share toys and food. The thought of trying to find a mom's group where all the children have some sort of behavioral problems came to mind...but,COME ON, I am not THAT self-loathing. Never, NEVER.

I hear these strong-willed children just get more so with age. Damn you, John, this all your fault.

Friday, February 27, 2009

This Because I'd Rather Not Write About How Finn Would Not Sit Still at the Damn Puppet Show Today

The Fam always likes to label me as a Republican. I prefer to be left alone in some grayish non-labely political party myself. Oh wait, there is a party for that, Independant, dumbass. Okay whatever here are the results from an online quiz that is sure to peg me correctly (ha, ha):

My Political Views
I am a right social libertarian
Right: 5.14, Libertarian: 5.89

These next two were no big shockers given the current military situation we are in and O's most recent speeches:

My Foreign Policy Views
Score: -2.42

My Culture War Stance
Score: -3.49


(So the website's stupid images would not download properly and I don't care to spend lots of time trying to fix it, sorry.)

Thursday, February 26, 2009

20 Weeks: HalfwayPoint & Freaking Out

Seriously, where the hell does the time go? I swear the one thing you CONSTANTLY here from 'been there done that' moms is how fast time flies by when you have children. Along with every other trite expression that relates like, "They grow up so fast," or "Before you know he'll be riding a bike".....Whatever, you get the picture. So, here I am 20 weeks pregnant and I can't believe I am halfway through with this pregnancy. It kinda scares the crap out of me for unknown reasons. Luckily, it is NOT because I am unprepared. After all, I have been cleaning, organizing, and list-making for the past several weeks (oh, it's reached a whole new level because this week I have prepared a LIST of meals that I can freeze and prepare ahead of time along with the necessary shopping LIST for said meals). It's not the obvious fear either. I am really not so worried about being able to handle two under two at one time. Honestly, I could probably use the challenge anyway and this one will be born in the summer, and well you know, EVERYTHING is easier in the summer.

So the pregnancy. It continues (just a little to quickly).

It seems like yesterday I was starring blankly at this, just a wee embryo at the time:


Now you are a fetus with fully developed organs and you are able to open and close your eyelids and even suck your thumb if you choose to do so. You are the length of a banana (your big brothers favorite food).

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

St.Louis Loves Children

I moved to St.Louis because I was in love. Not with the city but with a man, who lucky for me is now my husband. When I first moved here I literally experienced culture shock. I moved here from New York City, a city to which I developed a massive love affair with almost right from the start. I probably could have lived there forever and been quite happy had it not been for resources, mainly money, starting to run thin. While living in New York I really felt like I found myself. I LOVED spending time by myself roaming the streets and shops of Soho, Greenwich Village, and the Meatpacking District yet I also met and had lots of friends so there was always someone to go out with at night for drinks. Not to mention all of the wonderful museums, the cultural diversity, and the amazing one of a kind restaurants the City has to offer....

Anyway, so I moved to St.Louis because I was broke and I fell in love. I had nothing else here yet I confidently thought I'd make friends easily and find a different kind of identity. Well that didn't happen so quickly and it was really a slap in the face. I found it (and still find it) extremely difficult to make friends to the point where I was told blatantly once by a girl I met a Nordstrom, "I have all the friends I need already..." I was really into fashion and as I later came to found out, St.Louis is the place where fashion trends come to die. Never mind going out at night since I didn't have friends to go out with anyway. I depended a lot on John for my happiness and well, frankly, that sucked. This would later became known as "the dark period".

Flash foward to today. Six years later (holy shit has it really been that long?) and over time I have really grown to appreciate this city. Not only does St.Louis have fantastic restaurants, they are all really affordable. The main reason I have grown quite fond of this city is that it is a wonderful place to have and raise children. First and foremost there is an impressive line-up of free things to do here: The Zoo, The Discovery Room at The Science Center, and Grants Farm just to name a few. There are also plenty of amazingly fun attractions if you are willing to spend just a little money. This includes the newly expanded Magic House, The Transportation Museum, and The City Museum. But probably the best part of living in St.Louis with children is the fact that you can drive from the county to the city in 30 minutes, making it so easy to get anywhere you want to go and not have worry about screaming overly tired children crying from the backseat of the car.

I leave you with a picture of a recent trip to The Magic House of St.Louis (recently rated the #1 family attraction nationwide by Zagat Survey's U.S. Family Travel Guide):


(Finn's masterpiece, upclose and personal)

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Oh Holy Nesting

I didn't really nest when I was pregnant with Finn. I remember looking forward to it my whole pregnancy, anxiously awaiting the moment when I would get my ass in gear and really deep clean the inside of the stove and dust all the baseboards but sadly it never happened. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that I was working at Nordstrom at the time and my organizational tendencies were fufilled by schedule making, filing, managing, etc. By the time I'd arrive home from work there was just enough time to change into comfy clothes, make a frozen pizza, and park my ass on the couch to watch Big Brother. Anyway, this time is different. My new favorite word is LIST. I have lists of things "to do" broken down by specific categories like house and groceries and than I organze those lists. Hmmmmm...speaking of lists, lets make a list of what my compulsive nesting has allowed me to accomplish around the house:

1) Developed a coupon orgainzational system complete with expandable file folder and I actually use it.
2) Hung framed pictures on the wall. I have my mother-in-law to thank for this.
3) Started painting the back stairwell.
4) Cleaned out my email inbox.
5) Dusted the baseboards (yeah!!)
6) Organized our digital photos, including adding random photos sent via email and transferred them onto our computer.
7) Did a complete overhaul of Finn's closet, reorganized all of his clothes bins by size to prepare for Number 2.
8) Made a list (of course!) of things I still need for Number 2.

And best of all....
9) Picked out a girl name!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

The Dog Days of Winter

This is always the time of the year where I just long for the winter to end. Today I woke up to frost and ice and then came the snow. It's blistery cold and the wind is making the windows rattle. It's time for a warm weather rewind:

Friday, February 20, 2009

Sacrificial Spending

Today I went to Target to do my part to help strengthen our flailing economy. I guess you can say that I am taking a page from our new administrations economic policy book. Spending money = improved financial conditions? Now if only I could find a way to print my own money.....oh well. The majority of what I spent was actually on food items already discounted and than I used coupons to top it off. However, I did buy Finn a Crayola Floor Pad Sketch Book and Tadoodles Crayons (all Crayola products are made and produced here in the United States). Finn has shown a strong interest in the area of Fine Arts lately and by "strong interest" I mean he loves music, dancing, playing piano, and painting. He is the only person I have ever met who could find a 'beat' to Tsaichovsky and groove to it. Unsurprisingly, he took to the coloring quite easily and this allowed me to prepare dinner.

And now I will leave you with a bit of Crayola Trivia. The U.S. Civil Rights Movement helped initiate this name change in 1962. The color Flesh became known as........


(The answer to the question will not found in Finn's artwork, the picture is merely for the cuteness factor of the post)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Finn, Who??

Oh yeah, my incredibly adorable firstborn child and the reason I decided to create this blog. That's who.

I scanned my other posts and realized it's been three days and I still have not written a single word about him. This does not mean I love candy and basting spoons more than him, rather I just find it easier to put words to my feelings towards those inanimate objects. This child has turned my world upside down with love that makes you want to crawl into the fetal position and rock upon the thought of anything bad happening to him, love that makes your head spin kinda love. With his big round blue eyes, the slightest quiver of his bottom lip, his thousand different ways of saying "uh, oh" melts my heart again and again. I am obsessed with him and I find it hard to associate words to adequately describe the love I feel for him.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Died and Gone to Candy Heaven


I apologize husband and child I have a new favorite thing - Reese's Peanut Butter Whoppers. These things are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Thank you, thank you, thank you whoever you are that decided the marriage of coated peanut butter goodness mixed with scrumptious crunchy malted milk would result in pure decadence. I love you. I finished off a carton of these in a day and a half.

Homework: Gain Weight

I know most consider me lucky. I was born with a super fast metabolism. I am 19 weeks and 4 days pregnant and I weigh in at a whopping 119 lbs. This averages in at 1 pound a week weight gain since I got pregnant. The baby is super healthy (as far as ultrasound and blood samples can see) and is actually measuring ahead of schedule. I eat ALOT. I have uttered that phrase countless times in my life, usually as a response to someone leering at me and wondering which eating disorder I may have. Little do they know, I love food. I especially love red meat, fast food, and anything over-processed. So, whatever, doctors orders are to gain more weight. YIPPPPEEEE!

I had my "big ultrasound" also know as the gender determination ultrasound where we did not find out the gender. We will have another surprise (!) baby. I admit, I was trying to look this time to see if my untrained eye would notice any specific boy or girl parts, but alas, it did not. It's for the best, of course, because surprises in the delivery room are the best (P.S. I still think I am having another boy). The ultrasound pictures of the baby are great and the tech commented on how photogenic he/she is, which still leaves me as least photogenic in our family. Great. The baby looks healthy and all the measurements look good. I am back to my original due date of July 4th.

P.S. Baby #2, please don't be born on the 4th of July because your daddy wants to name you after Uncle Sam. Thanks. Bye.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

My Funny Valentine

I first must preface this post by saying that husband and I do not celebrate Valentine's Day. And by celebrate I mean we don't waste our precious hard earned dollars to buy each other romantic useless gifts (there's a reason we can afford to live on one income, afterall). This, however, doesn't mean we never buy each other presents, we just save them for VERY special occassions. Anyhoo, I am getting off-topic.

My loving husband bought me this for Valentine's Day:



I was super psyched to receive this basting spoon not only because I really really needed it, but also because it is a reminder to me how well my husband listens to me even when I talk kitchen utensils. Now the best part of V-Day was when I opened my card later that evening. Please refer to picture below:


Yeah, that's two of the same card. One from this year and one from last year. Apparently didn't realize that he bought the same card two years in a row. Right away I thought this was a joke especially since this years card was written in Spanish. Thought he just wrote the same message as last year but in a different language? I am waiting for the same card next year but maybe en francais. I told him it would save us some money if he bought them in bulk. Ahhhh, gotta love him.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Hello BlogWorld, I'm here.

So this is my first foray into blogging. I wonder if anyone will even read this. I wonder what I will even say. I have wanted to start this for some time now, mainly as a means to document my sons life. I attempted with old fashioned pen and paper and it just did not work. This, of course, did not surprise me as it takes effort to actually go find a pen and the journal I lost several months back. The computer, however, is very accessible and I am on it daily so there you have it....