Slainte!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!  If you can't tell by previous posts, our family is very steeped in Irish heritage.  E is first generation and has dual Irish citizenship.  He wears his heritage proudly.

And in doing so, that means that this morning was big deal in our household.  E dressed Finn without any help from me.  The only help I provided was that I got out every single piece of clothes that she had that was green.  He chose the outfit and was very excited to have her show Mommy when she was done.  It was completed with pigtails (though E added the headband).

Our breakfast this morning consisted of donuts and milk.  She is still in daycare this week due to my dependent care flexible spending account still racking up $$ even though I'm out on maternity leave.  I'm sure that she was the hit of her daycare.  Not many kids there are as Irish as Finn is.  And I think that daycare personally loves my husband -- so they get very excited when she arrives all decked out in her holiday attire. 

I threw a St. Patrick's Day onesie on Fish.  It was one of Finn's.  She wore it on St. Patrick's Day two years ago.  It probably didn't fit her as well as it currently fits him -- she definitely rocked it. I remember that St. Patrick's Day due to the fact that it was 80+ degrees that day.  Today -- not so much. I think our high is hitting 31 whopping degrees.

 Someone's giving stink face.

I only threw this one in because he had drool dripping and it seemed like a very drunk Irish thing to do.  The only thing that Fish is going to be drunk on today is milk.

E even got into the holiday spirit.  He wore green pants, a green shirt and he even had an Ireland shirt on underneath his button-up.  And I'm sure that today after work before he picks up Finn, he is going to swig a few Guinness as well.  It wouldn't be good luck NOT TO.

Finn's outfit consisted of a dark green t-shirt and jeggings.  The Irish tutu as well as the true Irish sweater (made in Donegal) were provided by Granny, of course!  The Irish legwarmers courtsey of a Mommy purchase.  And the Converse sneakers are totally a Daddy purchase.

Fish's outfit consisted of a "Me First St. Patrick's Day" onesie provided by Mimi (which was originally gifted to Finn) and also white fleece pants that were Finn's.  He also sported a shamrock beanie that was WAY too big for him when we tried to put it on him in the hospital.  It was supposed to be his going home hat, which didn't work out as he was drowning in the hat.  Seems the little boy has gotten to be a big boy!

A Week in the Life (v.2014.9)

 The pretty pink princess (with dinner on her face)

 

FaceTiming with Baby Brother

We are starting to get used to doing all the talking.

It's a tough life being this handsome.

I mean, seriously... Just LOOK at me...

Fish likes to make friends with his animals hanging above his head... Until that gosh-darn pony turns on him -- then it's all downhill.

Someone fell asleep despite his hat falling over one of his eyes.

It's amazing to me how big he has gotten in the past six weeks.  He doesn't even really fit on my lap anymore.

Hanging with Mommy, watching PBS.

I have some old school (like 70's old school) episodes of Sesame Street on my iPad -- we were rocking to Disco "D" on Friday morning!

Everyone loves a little donut in the morning (as well as frilly skirts over pants)!

Giving her baby a stroll inside as we got another 6 inches of snow this past week (it's all gone now, but it was depressing still seeing snow in March).

 

We are ready to get out and push baby outside!

If this doesn't make you instantly ovulate, I don't know what will...

Getting our 80's on with some pink leg-warmers.  She asked for pink socks, and I had to improvise with some leg warmers.

Fish is getting pretty good at holding his head up.

Baby snuggles gone overboard -- he was falling into the couch in his sleep.

Simply beautiful.

Doing some dreaming and some lip puckering.

We've got a (falling) dancing queen on our hands!
And yes, those are legwarmers on her arms -- we are fashion-forward in our house.

A little better all the time...

The photos of this post are courtesy of Fish's first bath...

Getting so much better all the time...

 The chorus of the Beatles' song sounds like my weekend -- A little better all the time (It can't get no worse)...  It all began on Thursday evening.  Fish woke up at 1am and then continued to wake every hour on the hour to nurse.  That continued through Friday and Friday night.  On Saturday, the nursing every hour had slowed, but the epic crankiness that took it's place surpassed anything that I had experienced with him (besides a couple of hours of painful gas early on).  Add that in with the fact that Finn was also very very cranky (probably thanks to the head cold that daycare gave us).  She didn't nap very well and that led to an afternoon and evening where 90% of the time someone or both were crying at the same time.  Ugh!  But I am now armed with the knowledge that a very cranky Fish should be put in the Moby wrap and walked around the house -- instantly asleep and he didn't hardly nap the entire day.  Unfortunately, I arrived at this conclusion after 4 hours of crying...

I actually drank TWO beers that evening.  Two in a row!!  I haven't had two beers in a row in probably a little under a year!  But you know what?  We survived.  Was I really bitchy when E came home that evening?  Of course.  But I made it -- and the kids made it.  And I didn't even have to give myself a time out!  I'm thinking that if I can survive a toddler coming down with a cold and a infant with a growth spurt -- I can probably do just about anything!  (Remind me of this when I decide to take the kids to the grocery store all by myself...)

Oh, yeah about that solo trip to the grocery store with two kids -- check that one off the list as well!!!  It was totally accidental, of course -- but don't mind that.  On Sunday, we stopped to get air in my car.  I had shut off the car but left the radio on.  In the 5 minutes it took to put air in the tires, my car battery was dead.  I had been having issues with a low battery for a while, but STILL -- only 5 minutes!  So there we were...  Stuck in the shopping center parking lot with a dead battery.  So while E figured out how to jump it, I walked Finn & Fish across the parking lot, plopped them in a grocery cart (the cute little truck cart that Finn wanted to drive) and I went shopping for the few things that were on my list.  My only complaint is that with a toddler and an infant in a car seat, there was NO room for groceries.  Someone needs to design a grocery cart that can contain a toddler, an infant and more than a loaf of bread.  I had to practically place the groceries on poor little Fish's lap.  But our little shopping trip was also a success!!

Someone was a Pretty, Pretty Princess yesterday...

And on Monday, I was able to get out of the house for about 20 minutes alone (yes, without any child in tow) and walked Munk around the block as it was so glorious out that evening.  It was the first time that I was able to get away and out of the house since Fish was born.  E took Finn and Fish over to the neighbors and he did an excellent job with Fish as Finn got to play with the neighbors' 20-something girls who adore her.

The growth spurt is now over.  Fish is back to sleeping his normal schedule (sort of) and feeding on an only slightly elevated-normal schedule.  And the best part?  He is now so alert.  He looks around and can focus on things.  He knows my voice and will turn his head towards my direction.  And he is now talking up a storm.  Lots of cooing and gurgling going on with this little dude.  I can place him on his back underneath his activity mat or in the pack-n-play and he will kick and talk to the animals hanging above his head.

Fish also received his first official bath last night.  He is almost six weeks old and is JUST getting his first bath?  Yes, yes, I know...  He had gotten lots of poor-man's bath (wash cloth bathes), but was never submerged in water since his hospital bath hours after he was born.  The weather is just so cold which makes our house too chilly for a newborn bath.  And the main reason is that I was just too lazy...  It seemed like a lot of work and he didn't smell, so I thought it can wait.  But as the photos show, he adored the bath.  Looks like we are going to have to give him more, only because he enjoyed himself so much.

After two blow-outs and multiple pee-outs in the last couple of days, we officially need to move up a size in diapers.  I have never had an issue with his diapers until this past weekend.  Since then I've had to change outfits numerous times (some multiple times a day) and I'm now just putting two and two together.  I am going to TRY to finish out the rest of our size 1 diapers which will probably get us to the weekend.  But this weekend, at the age of 6 weeks, we are going to be moving into size 2 diapers (already!).  Finn didn't switch over to size 2s until she was 20 weeks old!  And he doesn't fit into the majority of his 3 month footie-sleepers.  I tried to put one on him the night before last and the poor kid couldn't stretch his legs out.  So I think that I need to start pulling out the 3-6 sleepers for bed.  We have a Big Fish on our hands!!!

A Week in the Life (v.2014.8)

Last Monday, Finn had her two-year check-up at the doctors.  She did amazing.  She is absolutely perfect according to us (and her doctor).

Fish also had his four-week checkup at the same time (trying to shoot two birds with one stone).  The nurse originally measured him in at 27 inches!  The doctor said that he was a big kid, but that she didn't think he was THAT big.  He wasn't -- 23 inches.  But she did comment about how huge of a baby he was.

Waiting for the doctor

Due to the afternoon appointment, Finn didn't get her full nap.  So while I was in the kitchen listening to the radio, she came running in and said "Hug you?  Hug you?" (her way of saying that she wants you to pick her up).  I thought she wanted to dance with me -- the song was slow, so we slow-danced.  And this led to...

This.
Girlfriend was so tired that she fell asleep again at 6:30pm...

My dear old Munk-y...

Munching on some dinner.

Three of my favorite loves... Finn, Fish sleeping in the carseat, and Munk-y

This is now a frequent occurrence in our house.  For like 15 minutes!  She doesn't go in the potty yet.  She will tell us after she pees that she needs to go potty.  And I have since bought her a small potty, so she can get on and off by herself.

This is my winter coat that took me through two pregnancies.  It was not a maternity coat -- just an empire waist wool coat.  The lining is shredded and I know that it's time to either give it away or throw it away.  But it's quite sentimental to me as it did see me through those two pregnancies...

The side seam on the outside also came undone, due to the massive child that I had this time.  And I also lost the main button to keep it closed.  It popped off AFTER I had Fish in a snowy parking lot (I couldn't locate the button).  The button popped due to the fact that the thread was stretched to it's limit with two enormous bellies...  It's crazy, but I'm going to shred quite a few tears when this sucker leaves me...

Fish chilling with Mama.

One of his favorite sleeping positions. Check out the little pot belly on him!  And yes, that is a 3 month jumper that looks too short on a 4 week old.  He is going to be in 3-6 month before I'm ready for it.

I have the CUTEST 0-3 month outfits.  I told E that I'm going to have to get him dressed up to sit around the house, so that he can wear all the adorable outfits.  So don't be surprised if you start seeing fashion photos of this kid.

I had a lunch date with a friend at work -- so I had a reason for the rugged outdoorsy look (including boots).

E got quite a kick out this outfit -- in fact, I think that he loved it.

Chilling with Daddy, ready to chop down some trees...

This is Norman -- taking advantage of our activity mat.  Fish isn't ready for it yet -- so Norm took it upon himself to get comfortable.

Just can't get enough of this kid's gut -- I think it is totally adorable.

This is how Finn went to daycare today.  With four bows in her hair (two on each side that don't match her outfit),  a pink princess tiara headband, and two stickers on her shirt.

Someone is finally starting to do some talking.

"Big Fish" -- the movie

I know that I used the second song for Finn's "Chapter One" -- but it is so touching and fitting, I couldn't help myself...
"Take your time girl" by Niels Geusebroek & "Safe & Sound" by Matthew West 

Chapter Two: Falling Further in Love

Our sweet little girl's second year in review...
"You're the Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne & "Moon River" by Audrey Hepburn

Hit it, Bay City Rollers!

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!  This was our Saturday night in photos.  E & I have really gone downhill -- there was no crazy drinking, no going out to eat, no movies.  E and I had hot dates with a wild little two-year-old and a squishy little dude.  Saturday night had Fish turning 4 weeks old.  He is becoming more and more alert, which means less and less sleep during the day and evening and that means more and more crying.

Daddy got a little excited with the markers and turned poor little Finn into a "V for Vendetta" character.  She rounded the corner and my mouth dropped.  And I couldn't stop laughing.  E bought the absolute BEST washable markers -- ones that truly wipe off with a wet wash-cloth.  So I wasn't concerned about Finn having a permanent mustache. 

Finn is still being really great with Baby Brother.  She wanted to jump up on the couch with Daddy when she saw that he was patting him on the back and get in on the action.  She is an excellent baby-back-patter.  We are still working on "gentle", but hey -- she's two!  By the time that she finally gets the whole "gentle" thing, he is going to be rough-and-tumble and ready for some sister-wrestling.

She also saw me taking photos of Daddy and Fish and got out her phone to take photos.  Watching her try to contort her body to get a shot made me laugh.  But it made me laugh even more when I got behind her to see if she was actually getting Daddy & Fish in the shoot -- but she had actually turned the internal camera around and was contorting to take photos of herself!