The Boys

My New Year's Resolution was to blog more. I'm not doing stellar but I am trying to get back in the habit. I feel like I am finally catching my breath after having Mason. Things sure are busier with two little boys just 17 1/2 months apart! We are loving (almost) every minute of it though. They are the best of friends already. Finn LOVES watching Mason and loves to tickle him, play with him and make him laugh. He calls Mason "Ma-moo." It's really adorable. Mason loves to laugh and watch Finn run around. Here is a little update on both boys.

Learning to sit up at Christmas

Mason-- He is turning 6 months on Friday. I can NOT believe it has gone by so fast. He is on the verge of crawling. He's been rolling since he was 4 months and has been really mobile with it. Finn never did that so it really caught me off guard to set him down and have him roll across the floor in about two seconds. He's been up on his knees rocking back and forth for a week or two now, and he's going to be full blown crawling any day. I think he is so anxious to attempt to keep up with his big brother. He loves jumping in his doorway hanging jumper thing (that's an official term). He is such a sweet, gentle natured, happy baby. He smiles at everyone and anyone (opposite of his big brother who is more of an introvert already). He especially loves his daddy and his brother. They make him laugh the most. He is loving solid foods, too. Pears with cinnamon is his favorite, although he's tried apple/blueberry, peach/pumpkin and sweet potato. He loves them all! He is getting so big so fast and I wish I knew how to slow it down.

Riding the motorcycle toy at the mall in Boise

Finn-- Our little boy isn't so little any more. He is such a wild little man! He will be 2 in a month, and I can hardly believe it. He loves climbing on my bed, jumping off of the couch, etc. He still loves his blankie aka "dee dee" though. He takes it everywhere and sticks his finger in the little corner fold. I think it's the cutest thing. He is usually super happy at home, in his familiar surroundings. He has a hard time with lots of new kids at once; he prefers things a little more quiet. Finn loves giving everyone kisses though, and sometimes gives them quite enthusiastically. He has to give everyone a kiss before naptime and bedtime. I can't resist a good kiss from my boy. We are so in love with his little (or should I say big) personality that is emerging faster than ever from our sweet boy. He loves to snuggle but also gets mad if you try to get him to hold still for too long. He is starting to do imaginative play (says "he-whoa" with his finger puppets, etc). It's so amazing to watch his little mind grow before our eyes. He is talking up a storm. He still has his own versions of many words, but he knows what he wants to say and can say it. He is also quite a fish. He would play in the bathtub all day if I let him. It's really nice because I usually put him in the tub and I can clean the entire bathroom while he plays in there. He is healthy and strong, in spite of the fact that he seems to be subsisting solely on whole milk, cheese, crackers and occasionally sliced turkey. I think he's hating eating because he is teething still. Finn has been staying in nursery the entire time that last few weeks too, which is so amazing. It kind of makes me sad almost, that he doesn't need me for two entire hours. But I suppose it's the way a parent is sad when their child goes to college or something- you are sad to lose them but so happy and proud that they're learning and growing (and let's face it, it's nice to have a little break during church). I'm so proud of my sweet little boy and the little person he is becoming.

We are living the life these days. Of course there are always things that we can find to complain about, but we truly are so very happy. We have a warm house and two healthy boys. We love each other and we love the Lord. I can't think of anything else that we really need to be happy; everything from here on out is just a bonus. The Lord has blessed us so much and we are so grateful.

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. 

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!

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.

A Yummy Treat

I have some pictures I've been meaning to post for a while now. . .

My sister in law Sarah took these photos of Finn when he was 5 months old this summer. They are awesome and I love them so much. I have plans to get them up on my walls . . .eventually . . .

I'm so in love with this little guy. Can't get enough. Thanks for documenting him Sarah!

86 Days of Love

Finn turned 3 months on Sunday. I am hurrying to type this as he is cooing in his swing, feasting on his hands. He is so time consuming these days, but I love it. I'm usually covered in puke by 10am, and by noon we've both gone through a few wardrobe changes. He smiles and gets excited when we play with him now, and it's so much fun! He is getting to be quite the little ham. He holds his head up amazingly well. I think we're going to be getting him a bumbo this week. He now cries a faint, annoyed cry most of the time before falling asleep. It's really funny except that I feel bad for him when he does it. He weighs about 12 pounds and is about 25 inches long. He's so big! He also sleeps through the night MOST of the time. Although there are days. . . or nights. . . you get the point.


Things are busy around here the past few weeks as we are moving AND painting our entire new apartment. All I can say is thank goodness for instructional paint videos on the internet. And diet coke. Here are a few before shots of the new place (sorry for the poor quality. . . from the iPhone).

Evolution of Finn

I have been neglecting the blog . . . it's apparent. But I have good reason. I've been binging on baby. Big time. This adorable little boy is like my favorite chocolate cake, a foot massage, and a good chic flick all wrapped into one. When I shove my face into the folds in his neck, the world melts away, and nothing bad can come into that tiny spot. He smells like a baby spit-up-and-heaven cupcake. We've been hiding out. Staying away from any moment that I might have to disperse his beauty into the world; I've been keeping it all to myself, gobbling it up. He's my best kept secret. He's like a new spring hat, and everyone will want to try him on. So we've been sitting in our rocking chair. Neglecting house work, forming not-so-great eating habits (at least on my part-he doesn't really have much of a variety now does he?), watching hulu and snuggling each other like there's no tomorrow.

I've been obsessed with watching him change. He's learned how to suck on his hands. He keeps them in little tiny fists wrapped so tight that I have to wash them out because his spit causes it to smell quite "musty" in there. It's the funniest thing to me. And he also loves classical music, courtesy of Gideon. He plays it on Pandora for him when he's in his swing and he'll stop crying, just sit and smile as he listens to the melodies. It's a beautiful thing. This kid is such a daddy's boy. When Gideon walks through the door at night, Finn bursts into the biggest smile at just the sound of his voice. And daddy knows all the right games to play to get him to quit fussing when he's tired, and his marching through the living room puts him to sleep without fail 100% of the time.

But we do get out. When we feel in the mood. Yesterday we went to Nordstrom and he was so good in his stroller the entire time! He smiled at all the sales ladies and they all "oohed" and "aaah'd" over him. Then I decided to push my luck and try one more store. As I am half naked putting on a skirt in the dressing room, he looks at me funny and simultaneously I smell something fishy. I lean in closer...closer...closer...yep. Code brown. And he starts crying, because, of course, who wouldn't cry if they were sitting in their own slimy poo? So I hurry and slip off the skirt and pull him out of the car seat. Good thing I have a changing pad in my diaper bag, since the bench in there was 100 % concrete. I undo his clothes to find the poo is all the way up to his shoulder blades. Yellow, slimy back-mess. Yum. By now the whole room smells and the sales lady is checking in on me. "We're. . .fine. Thanks," I reply when she asks me if I need a new size. I wanted to say "YES! A new set of baby clothes would be awesome right about now. And some sweats for me. I'm tired of these jeans that are not forgiving of the mommy pooch." So after wiping the poop off of the wall that got there who-knows-how and picking up his binky about a thousand times during his diaper change, I got him all cleaned up and dressed in a spare outfit I had (first time I had to use it!), bought that skirt and got out of there as fast as I could. Do I even need to tell you that I drove through McDonald's on the way home for a large Diet Coke?

And PS: Today we stopped at a garage sale with Finn. They were selling a beautiful piece of furniture for originally $100, then marked down to $45. So I told the lady we could do around $30. She made a wary face and came over to look at it with me. "Well, maybe, you guys are a young couple . . ." and then she saw Finn. He was smiling at her and that took the cake. "Oh, MY GOSH!! Look at that beautiful baby! Oh yes. Yes yes yes. For YOU I will do $30." She then proceeded to call her entire family and all the shoppers over to gawk at our "gorgeous little baby." Finn, I am taking you shopping with me every single time!! Way to go little buddy.

Easter Sunday and Finn's Blessing

From left: Kelly, Ben, Adam, Dad, Mom, Gideon, Finn, Me

Last week my parents came into town for Ben's graduation. It was so much fun to have them here! They took us all out to Thai food (which was amazing . . . so wonderful to eat curry and not have heartburn!!), we hung out at their condo in Midway (beautiful), and they also hung around our house a lot. It was such a good time just relaxing and chatting together. My dad and brother and sister hadn't met Finn yet, so it was fun to watch everyone enjoy our sweet little boy. We miss them already, and we can't wait to go visit them in Seattle in June!

Since everyone was in town already, we decided to hold Finn's blessing that week, which just happened to be Easter Sunday. It was such an awesome day! It was Easter Sunday, Finn's blessing, and also my parent's 30th wedding anniversary. Also, it was Finn's 2 month mark. He's getting so old! The blessing that his daddy gave him was beautiful, and it was so special to be able to share the day with all of our family. Afterwords we had a little family get together at our tiny apartment, but surprisingly we all fit! Special thanks to everyone for bringing food and supplies. It was so awesome to be together with both of our families and just enjoy the day.

My talented sister in law took these amazing pictures of Finn for me. Thanks so much Hannah!

He's making a sucking face in all of these pictures because he was one hungry boy. He was crying so we just gave him his binky, then would rip it out super fast and Hannah would shoot the camera like crazy for a few seconds before he started crying, as seen below:

We blessed him in the blanket that my brothers were blessed in, so it was extra special to have the blanket in the pictures. Plus it made a pretty backdrop!

Overwhelmed

Yes, the first few weeks of motherhood are a bit overwhelming, to say the least. There is a lot of change. Your hormones are crazy. You don't sleep. Your body is not really your own anymore. All of this I was prepared for. I knew what to expect (for the most part), and I was ready for it. But what I wasn't prepared for, is this constant ache in the pit of my stomach. It's a good ache. I ache with the love I have for this tiny person who I spend all day with. I am in constant need of a break, and still, I miss him when I go to the bathroom. I miss him when my husband is snuggling with him. I miss him when I know I have to let him sleep without me so that one day he won't be sleeping in my bed. I stare down at his little face, so peaceful, happy, so perfect, and I feel like my heart is just going to burst with love for this brand new life.

I am constantly marveling at him. His eyes, his lips, his hairy arms, his chubby thighs, his hands and feet, his spirit. He smiles and laughs-really laughs- in his sleep. He is starting to coo and gurgle more as he stares around the room. Bath time is enjoyable for him now. He has certain characteristics that are exactly like his dad. Sometimes my heart almost stops with how much he reminds me of that wonderful man who helped create him.

I am constantly willing time to stop, to let me have him like this forever, and yet I am anxiously awaiting his first words, his first steps, the first day of school, long chats after he comes home from a date, seeing his accomplishments, his failures, his joys and his pain. I want to be there for it all. I'm so glad that there is so much more to being a mother than just the poopy diapers and cute onesies. I am so honored and blessed to be able to help shape the man, the human being, the wonderful person this sweet little spirit is going to become.

I know this post is a jumble of things with no real organization, but do you see my point? I'm overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by happiness, love, joy. The tears are coming on just from writing this down. No one told me it would be like this. You hear so much about the rigors and trials of motherhood; no one told me it would be so wonderful. I loved my job and I loved my life before, but this kind of fulfillment and love is on an entirely different plane. I can not imagine doing anything else with my life.