Boys

I need to post recent pictures and give a whole long update. But I just had to throw this random thought on here. I was looking through some old pictures of Finn, and some recent ones. That kid looks like his daddy! I swear Gideon coaches him on how to make those classic Medley expressions, because Finn does them. It's awesome. I am so very excited that we are having another little boy who will most likely be a mini me of his awesome and handsome daddy. I saw something online the other day that said "don't marry someone unless you're ok with your own sons being just like them." Something to that effect. I feel so lucky that I have a husband who is a genuinely good man, and I would consider myself the proudest momma in the world if my two little boys turned out exactly like him. I love my boys.

A Great Day

The sun is shining outside. . . I think I am going to be taking Finn on a walk after his nap. Which he is currently taking, peacefully. We went to Target earlier to return some things and grab a few produce items. He was pleasantly behaved in the cart the entire time, and to top it off I met Stephanie Nielson (author of the Nie Nie Diaries blog and the coming soon book, Heaven is Here). I admit I was a little startstruck. But I just had to stop her and tell her what an awesome person she is, and thank her for sharing her amazing story. I just stared at her while we talked and honestly thought that she is probably the most beautiful person I have ever met. I just wanted to give the whole store a hug after talking with her for a few minutes. I'm so grateful for inspiring people in our world who make us feel better by sharing their strength and humility with others so freely. If you haven't read her story, you should. Check out her blog here.

Then I got  a baby update from my awesome sister in law who is ready to give birth literally any moment! I love new babies being born and I can't wait to meet their little bundle!! I love the little thing already.

THEN I got to go down and see Gideon for lunch. Sheesh I love that guy. I got to see where he works and watch him carry Finn around like the proudest daddy in the world. We sat in the car while he ate lunch and we drove through the gas station and got some sodas. It's always just a fun treat to see him during the day instead of when I'm a little fried from being a mommy all day long.

It may not seem like anything special, but for me today is a great day. I am so happy with my little life and my little family. Grateful to have so many simple but priceless blessings from a God in heaven who loves us and truly cares about us.

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?