Finn Turns One

 Well I am just finally getting around to blogging about my sweet little boy's first birthday. We threw him a little party with just family (still a big crowd!) and had a great time. We all sang and watched him eat a cupcake (not very messy, surprisingly), and the rest of the time was spent munching and catching up with each other. It made me so happy to be able to have so many loved ones around to support Finn and just show their love for him, even though he will have zero memories of that day. He is such an awesome little guy. Truly. He has a hard time with big crowds, so we were a little worried how he would handle a big birthday gathering. But he did surprisingly well and had a pretty good time! He is starting to be a little more confident around other little kids and strangers. It's so fun watching him change and grow into such a little boy (I know I say that in EVERY blog post, but it's so true)! It was a fun time getting everything ready with Gideon and my amazing cousin Caitie. I of course ended up doing a little more decorating that I had planned, but it was fun and I just couldn't help myself! Gideon even made the banner above the window (I was VERY impressed) and Caitie helped me (ok, she pretty much did it-I have problems) frost all of the cupcakes. Overall the party was a success and I think Finn will at least have some great pictures to look back on when he's 15 and think "aw, my parents really do love me!" Those pictures are all thanks to Caitie. She was such a good sport and took about a bajillion pictures for me. We even got a few family photos of all the Utah Medleys (except Tammy!), and we also took some shots of the grandkids. ALL of the Medley grandkids (with 4 more to be added this year). It was absolutely freezing outside. Everyone was a real trooper for braving the cold for the sake of a photo!

I realize this is not my most flattering picture, but it's a nice shot of the house full of people. And this is even after some partiers had left.

 Medley Family  2012

It was such an adventure getting all the little ones to sit in one spot long enough for a picture. Very fun memory. 

Babies

First of all . . .

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Gideon and I had a very romantic evening. . .

He studied in the bedroom (so as to not be distracted by my TV watching) and I watched a juicy new Parenthood episode and cleaned the kitchen on commercials. Then we ate some red velvet Costco cake for a study break for him.

This picture wasn't taken tonight. . . but it pretty much sums up every evening around here. Poor guy. 

I told you it was romantic.

Now that that's out of the way, on to more important real blogging topics, such as baby stats, etc. Far more interesting.

Finn turns one in about two weeks. So crazy! I can't believe how fast time has flown. I find myself looking at his birth pictures and his newborn photos, completely blown away by the little boy I have in front of me. I have fallen so deep in love so fast (a year) that is rocks my world. I love love love being a mom, especially to this sweet little boy. The other day he took his first real steps in front of me and I burst into tears (being pregnant and hormonal doesn't help ). My little guy is growing up. It may seem slow to everyone else, but to me it is already flying by, and it's such a mix of emotions! I am so proud of the little person he is evolving into, and yet I am devastated that he is changing and growing and needing me less and less. He is pretty much weaned to a sippy cup now, but I can't force myself to quit nursing him at bedtime because after he always snuggles me so sweetly, and I just can't give that up yet! Us moms, we need our kids snuggles way more than they need ours. Truly.

Watching TV- he crawled into his car seat one day so I snuggled him in and let him veg. Don't judge me. 

A few random things about Finn I want to jot down to remember:

He loves scrunching up his nose and breathing through it, while sticking out his tongue and pointing his nose in the air. Yes, it's goofy, and yes, it's very very cute.

He has two bottom teeth, and if you put something in his mouth, your fingers WILL get bitten if you don't pull them out fast enough.

He is semi-walking. He has about a 5 step max right now.

He loves loves loves the car. We often "go out" if he's grouchy because he loves running errands.

He is 100% in love with anything to do with outdoors. Every time he bonks his head, we just step outside with him and he stops crying instantly. I kid you not. It's been this way since he was a very very small baby and he still is so happy anytime he's outside. I hope this love continues and beats out tv when he's 11.

He's a daddy's boy. He knows the sound of the door unlocking and crawls SUPER fast towards the door every time he hears it-he knows it's daddy coming home. He also smiles and laughs at Gideon every time he gets in the car when I pick him up from work or school.

Like I said, he is almost completely weaned. He drinks milk and water out of a sippy cup. I only nurse him at bedtime and once at about 6 am.

He sleeps from about 6:30pm until 5 or 6 am, nurses, then goes back to sleep until 7 or 8 am. I'm in heaven. But of course, he usually sleeps something like this:

Changing diapers is near impossible. He is the most wiggly kid, I swear! Most diapers changes go like this:

Sorry for the blurry photo-there wasn't time to focus!

He finally eats real food! He was on a yogurt-only kick for so long I was getting worried. But he now eats waffles, pancakes, eggs, turkey lunch meet, noodles, spaghetti, shredded cheese, and the veggies from vegetable soup (mostly the carrots). And still lots of yogurt to boot. Oh and he also loves cinnamon graham crackers and regular animal crackers. And Ritz crackers. Woo hoo! Such a great list!


Well it is finally getting real that we are having another baby! August really seems so close to me, and it's kind of freaky! This pregnancy is going by much faster (maybe because I'm not throwing up every day?? Possible . . .) than Finn's. I'm already 14 1/2 weeks. We are finding out the gender on Friday! Can't wait. I've been feeling the baby move since around 12 weeks, and that has been awesome. Just light flutters, but it is crazy how much earlier you can feel the baby the second time around. We are thinking of names and I'm already making a list of things I need to clean and organize in my house slowly so that I can have some sense of order when baby #2 arrives and throws us into a complete tailspin. Can't wait!

Well, I desperately need to blog. I don't have any pics to post tonight but I keep laughing at strange things in my life and thinking how I need to get them down on paper (or typed up).

Tonight Gideon and I were sitting here laughing so hard at ourselves tonight. It's 11:30 and we are sitting on the floor/couch eating the yummiest avocado we've had in a while. Gideon randomly started singing some old Yellowcard song (this post won't be funny to you if you don't know who yellowcard is). I of course joined in, and before you know it we are both laughing while singing (in an emo, troubled raspy voice) old Yellowcard and Dashboard songs. Then my cousin came out and let us know that in a few years our kids were going to think that this  currently funny situation is so embarassing and not at all funny. We all had a good laugh. It's so true! Gideon and I already do things that we can remember our parents doing and thinking they were so embarassing. Funny how life cycles back like that. I like to think of it as vindication for parents. Eventually, your kids will grow up and deal with their children (or some children at some point) and get their own Karma right back.

In other random but slightly funny news, Finn now has two bottom teeth and is getting very good at using them. I was laying on the couch the other day while he was cruising back and forth along the edge of the cushions. He cruised behind me and I wasn't worried about him. Gideon and I were chatting and all of a sudden I feel two little teeth chomp down on my heel. I screamed and yanked my foot back-good thing I didn't catch the poor guy in the face! He was pretty startled to realize that mommy doesn't like it when you bite her feet. It was so funny though. We had a pretty good laugh at that one.

Also, I am weaning Finn, which is going pretty well except that he keeps trying to "expose me" if you know what I mean, in very public places like relief society and target and such. He just wants to get at those suckers so very much! Poor guy. It's pretty funny/awkward though. I guess you just don't come between a baby and his boobies. Gotta love it.

Well, that's enough updating for one exhausting day. I know I shouldn't complain because lots of tired moms out there are excellent bloggers. . . What can I say? I'm just a one-task-a-day kind of mom I guess. I fed and bathed my baby today (ok, Gideon bathed him) and we even went on a walk. That's enough for me!

Victory!!!

We have succeeded in a battle of wills with our 9 1/2 month old son. He is FINALLY sleeping through the night! Last night he went to sleep by 8:00 and slept until 3:00, nursed, went right back to sleep until 6:30, nursed, and slept until 7:30. This has been going on 3 nights in a row now! AWESOME. SO much better than him waking up every 45 minutes!! We are happy happy people around here.

We realized the problem with our method was that we weren't doing it right! Instead of laying him down in his crib, leaving, and checking on him/briefly soothing every few minutes, we were staying in there until he went back to sleep, then sneaking out. BIG no no. So we started doing it the right way, and he slept through the night the first night! Granted he fought pretty hard the first night (we were checking on him for an hour) but it worked! He slept 5 straight hours the first night.

The method is this: Half hour bedtime routine, EXACT same every night. Then we lay him down in his crib awake. We give him 5 minutes of crying then go in (when we go in, we simply lay him back down in his crib and tell him we love him and it's time to go to sleep.) then we give him 10 minutes, then we give him 15, and then we go in every 15 minutes after that until he's asleep. He rarely makes it through the first 15 minute interval before he's passed out. And he also takes much better naps because of sleeping through the night. Usually between 1 and 2 hours. He used to sleep for only 35 or 40 minutes for his naps. Also, since he started sleeping better, he eats A LOT more food during the day. Our little guy is growing up.

We are the happiest people alive. I feel like I have my life back. I'm a new person, and so is our little guy! I would encourage everybody to at least try this method. Every kid is different I know, but I know a lot of moms who this has worked for. And if my kid can do it, your kid most likely can, too. It took a lot of patience and commitment, but it was so worth it.

Good luck to everybody who is dealing with some battle of wills with your kids. I feel for you!

Puppy Love

I know that I must be completely insane for thinking of getting a dog when I have a 9 month old son who doesn't sleep. BUT someday, I would LOVE one of these babies. I grew up with dogs from the time I was a baby. We had many many breeds come and go in our house. Some I can't really stand, some I'm indifferent to, and some I LOVED. While this is not the time in our lives for a dog, someday we'll be ready to bring one of these gorgeous guys home and make him part of the family. I think dogs teach kids about responsibility, how to be kind to animals, and lots of other good stuff. But I don't think I'll be bringing home a puppy until my last child is sleeping through the night and can walk without being run over completely. So maybe like two or something. And also, the oldest has to be able to scoop up poop and take the dog on walks, etc. Anyways. I've been daydreaming about these beautiful dogs. A Blue Weimereiner. They're great with kids, great guard/watch dogs, very loyal. And smart. What more could you ask for?

Weekend Project

Ok, so it's taken a little bit longer than a weekend. This was definitely a labor of love. We decided we would host a small Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year. SO, it got me motivated to finally get us a dining room table. We've spent 2+ years eating around our various coffee tables, so I decided it was now or never! We don't have the money to just stop at Pottery Barn and drop a few grand on a gorgeous table. But thanks to pinterest, I found some awesome DIYs for old farmhouse tables (my favorite!) Lucky for me, my husband has a constant itch to get his hands on saws, drills, any kind of tool and do some woodoworking. So I asked him if he would help me build a table (and by help, I mean let me drill some holes and use the saw, but I really have no idea how to do that sort of stuff-YET). So we set off on our adventure- we spent many hours at lowe's, lots of time drawing up plans, measuring, looking at pictures, etc. We finally got all our supplies and luckily, our landlords let us use their miter saw and drill press AND their huge empty garage. Here's a little photo log of our journey. . .

The wood set out the night before

getting ready to build the frame

Frame all built-Jared (Gideon's brother) did this part with Gideon. Thanks a million Jared!

All finished, ready to be stained

*We used pine*

Wet Stain

*I used dark walnut stain*

There is also a bench that goes with it, but in my prideful arrogance, I was SURE it should be the same length as the table . . . oops. Gideon now has to trim it down before I can stain it. I also have to finish weathering (beating with a chain) the table and the bench and give it a coat of sealer. SO when those finishing touches are complete, I'll post a picture of the final product in our house. But I have to say, I LOVE my table! I'm so glad I have a husband who is willing to take on these projects for me. All in all, we ended up paying about $130 for all of the supplies, stain, wood, etc. I'd say that's a success!

Karma

So . . . we have started our "hard core" week with Finn and his sleeping schedule, or lack of. I just can't let him cry it out, so we are doing what has worked for my sister in law (3 kids) and lots of other people out there. A strict routine/schedule and no more in bed with us. Lots of other minor details (yet critical), so if you want to know more, you can ask me or read the source: The No Cry Sleep Solution.

Although I'm not in a laughing mood come 3:30 am and still no sleep, we have been laughing pretty hard the past few nights at our little guy's personality. Since he can really crawl now, he lays there and cries for a minute, then he uses the crib bars to roll over, then crawl over to the edge of the crib, and stands up and screams at the door. Every time. We just go in over and over and lay him back down and stroke his head. It's so funny to watch him roll over, and crawl (wailing the whole time), eyes half closed, determined to not go to sleep. He reminds me of when I was a little girl; when I was about 3 or 4, I would stand at the top of the stairs at bedtime, stomp my feet and yell to my parents: "I WON'T go to bed, I WON'T go to bed, I WON'T!!" My poor parents had to deal with me, and now my little 9 month old son is doing the same thing to me. Funny how that works out.

This method is already working though! I lay him down to go to sleep totally awake in his crib just an hour ago, and he went to sleep all on his own, and he's still asleep. Yaaaay progress!!

We sure love our little guy though.