A Less Sick Husband

Sol is feeling much better today--the doctors haven't completely figured out what's going on, but Sol is blaming part of it on a 24 hour bug.  He's having a few more tests run and seeing a specialist this week.  He was totally coherent today and said zero ridiculous things, which was kind of sad.  I liked loopy Sol. But most importantly, he's feeling much better.  Better enough that he took out the trash!  YAY!

Finley is very serious about his dad's recovery and gives him the stink eye whenever he gets out of line.  We are grateful that Finley takes such good care of his dad.

"I'll crack your skull like I crack these eggs if you don't get better."

Sick Husband and Sweet Baby

My sweet husband has the immune system of... well, something with a really great immune system.  Maybe a rock?  Those never get sick.  He woke up this morning complaining of stomach pains.  After laying in bed until noon, complaining of his stomach pain and consulting with my almost doctor sister, he went to the ER.



(Personally, I think he is ill over the K-State loss last night... I mean, who isn't?)



He called me to say that the doctors think it is either an ulcer or appendicitis.  When I asked him if he had been admitted, he said, "I'm not sure... but I have an IV and I'm not wearing any pants."  I told him I think that means he has been admitted.



Lest you think I am a bad wife because I am not with him, I sent him with "Catching Fire" on his Kindle, so he wouldn't have talked to me anyway.  And I posted these pictures of Finley so he would have something cute to look at in the hospital.  While he is wearing no pants.

I'll update this post when we know more, but we would appreciate you keeping his belly in your prayers.

Snow Day!

School was cancelled yesterday (and it shouldn't have been), it was cancelled today (and it should have been), and it's cancelled tomorrow (and I'm ok with it).  We have a good amount of snow, a lot of fallen tree limbs and no electricity for about 18 hours.  It was cold and dark and boring. AND IT MADE ME MISS COUGAR TOWN AND MODERN FAMILY.  Unforgiveable. Last night we all wore headlamps and played Quirkle.  I think we might make flashlight time a part of Finley's bedtime routine because he LOVED it.

He did not love the cold cold cold temperature of his room this morning.  Victoria, Finley and I made a trip to the gym so we could work and shower (I smelled) then hung out with Calvin and Amy.  And got Chick-fil-a and Pinkberry.  It was a good snow day.

Victoria snapped this pretty cute picture of the two of us.  I love you baby mullet-head!

I'm joining Embrace the Camera a little late... but I haven't had internet in 24 hours, so I'm excused.




Time for all my BFFs on NBC!  Hello Thursday night TV!

Walt Disney World Marathon, Pregnant

As you are aware, I ran with my dad, husband and sister in the Walt Disney World Marathon a few weeks ago. And no, I didn't do the whole thing--I couldn't have even if I had wanted to. Which I didn't. I ran about 12.5 miles and it took a little over 2.5 hours. I ran without a watch and didn't ask my sister the time when I jumped out. It is kind of liberating and calming just to run for fun and not be checking my watch every few minutes.  We run in a normal fashion... and my t-shirt wasn't quiiite as long as I thought it was.  Hello little baby!



A little about the race--we had to be at the parking lot at 4:30, and the race started a little after 6.  They had 7 separate starts to spread out the runners and each one had fireworks.  It was cold, so we wore funny things and ate really healthy snacks on the starting line.

The race goes through all of the four major parks and some of the resorts on Disney Property.  It is a BLAST--while there are very few spectators (due to the insanely early start), every character is on the course multiple times and the park employees are all out cheering through the parks.  The roads connecting the parks get a little long, but then you find your self by a hot air balloon replica of the Epcot ball, which resembles what you are hiding under your shirt.



Laura and I were at a super fun point in the race, where the runners were enjoying themselves and not taking it too seriously.  I think I stopped to pee 5 times, which is less that I would have anticipated.  We didn't wait in line to take pictures with any characters--just the bootleg picture of other people with the Pirates of the Caribbean.  It had a very long line.

If I had been running my normal pace I wouldn't have enjoyed it near as much because I wouldn't have stopped to take a picture at the castle or enjoy all the fun things we saw.  (PS I love Disney World, can you tell?)



I was so proud of my family--my dad, sister and husband all finished and all PRed.  Sol and my dad both got injured and slowed down the last few miles but were able to finish.  While my dad initially swore he would never do another one, I think he is beginning to change his mind.  Marathons are like a drug.



It was such a great time.  As for the running pregnant part of it--I was so glad I was able to do it. I was always within 3 feet of my sister, who is almost a real live doctor, so I was safe.  The only thing she told me I shouldn't do over the weekend was go on the Harry Potter ride, and I ignored that advice. Nobody said anything to me about being pregnant, which was nice. This was probably because it was dark for most of the time I ran, which was weird. I thought about making a shirt that said "I'm hoping this race takes less time than labor!" or "It's ok, she's a doctor!" with an arrow to my sister.  Or my personal favorite, "You just passed/got passed by a pregnant girl!!!"  But I decided I didn't want to talk about it or worry about it, I just wanted to run. My knees were killing me by the time I stopped--apparently they aren't used to carrying all the extra weight.  I ran slowly and comfortably and loved every second of it.

(I stole these pictures from the professional website... can you tell?)

I'm planning on continuing to run 3+ miles a couple times a week (possibly with a longer weekend run) and do some Jillian Michaels (the parts of it I am capable of doing) to keep my muscles from thinking they can go away.  I had some hip issues after my last pregnancy, and so far the strength stuff I've been doing has really helped at keeping that injury from resurfacing.  Hopefully staying in shape a little bit better this time will help me start back up at something a little faster than 13 minute miles.  It's just really hard to motivate yourself when your child can walk faster than you can run.

I'm really excited to get to run fast and race again (I mean, fast for me, not like I'm going the Olympics).  I'm excited to pick out a fall race (with Marie!) and a Spring one to hopefully Boston Qualify at so I can retire from marathoning and run some shorter distances.  Did you know a half marathon is still really far, but only half as long as a full?  Crazy!

That was a long post.  The end.

A Video for People who Truly Love My Child

This is an unedited, low quality, long video of Finley. If you like Finley, you will find this mildly entertaining. (I'm considering going into sales--how did I do? Can't wait to watch the video, right?)

Highlights include: his new favorite word, some animal noises and him cooking me a 5 star meal/ignoring me.



This video is being posted half at the request of his Grandma and half because Finley really likes to watch videos of himself. He is his biggest fan--if he could type he would comment on the blog, like, everyday.

21 months

Here is my little 21 month old weasel, holding his detangler.  Jess--it's Sunflower Back to Basics.  I need to buy some cheap Loreal Kids stuff, but this stuff smells so sweet.  And makes his trend-setting, yet controversial hair so soft.

A few days ago Finley started looking at the camera and saying "CHEESE" with a rather normal, charming grin. I'm elated about this development.



The biggest change in the past month is Finley's vocabulary--he knows so many words and repeats the funniest things.  We've been saying doctor, people, paper, baby bird and lots of other strange things lately.

When he gets overly excited he'll bite his lower lip and "pat" us a little harder than is ok, so we've started telling him to use "nice hands" and he'll stroke our cheeks--and then his own cheek--very gently.  It's adorable.  And when he wants to pull our hair and we say no--instead he pulls his own hair.  It's all very logical over here.

I can't believe I'm already thinking about planning 2nd birthday parties and will soon have another little knucklehead on my hands.

Two Cute

It's been awhile since we've had a Finley and Calvin picture!  It's that time.

(thanks Vic!)

Children's Place accidentally shipped me two of these sweaters--luckily there are two little boys that need to stay warm.  How cute are they?  And don't they look like they are slightly Siamesed Twins?

And thanks for all the hilarious comments on Finley's hair--here and on Facebook.  They were so fun to read and surprisingly split between to cut, or not to cut.  I'll... umm... get back to you on my decision.  Decisions like this take time.

Bad Hair Day

One of the great things about blogging is that it brings people together.

One of the great things about my blog is that it brings people together to talk about my son's hair.

I know there are many opinions on the status of Finley's locks, and I think most of them fall under "YOU NEED TO CUT HIS HAIR BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE TO TAKE HIM AWAY."  I think this picture is not going to do much to turn public opinion.

(His hair is not normally so crazy--this was taken on my dad's camera and my dad is the president of the CUT HIS HAIR camp, so I think his camera may be a little biased.)

But isn't he sweet?  And if I had a daughter, don't you think she'd look just like that?  Our trip to Orlando was a little rough on his hair--I couldn't bring his detangler because it is a liquid, so we struggled a little with tangles.  It was windy, so Finley became an expert of pushing it out of his eyes (which is actually pretty cute.)

Also, in his hair's defense, he had just woken up from a nap in the sweaty humidity.  AND read his shirt.  NOBODY was concerned about his hair because of how cool his shirt is.



The thing is, if I trim the front, then it becomes a mullet.  Right now it is party in the front AND party in the back, so it is not a mullet.  But if I make it business in the front, then we are in trouble.  Also, Sol's goal is for him to have a sweet rat tail, and trimming his hair isn't helping us achieve that goal.

And sometimes he looks like an angel--when he's still and it's pushed to the side where it belongs.



And did I mention I'm also TERRIFED that if I cut it, it will somehow morph into this:

I feel like we are a few snips away from a bowl cut.

Honestly, I don't know what to do with his hair.  I kind of love it.  A lot.  And I am getting a new baby in a few months, so I may be a little more willing to cut it then... but I don't know.  I keep thinking, just a few more days and it will tuck behind his ear and all our problems will be solved!  So far, that is not working.

Besides, he's too cool for haircuts.

Week 25 & 28

Welp, so much for the blog being a lovely time capsule of pregnancy #2.  I really, really wanted to do a good job at taking a picture of myself every week, and you would think it wouldn't be that hard, given that our camera is ALWAYS out... but it is.  I really wanted to wear the same shirt (which keeps being dirty or missing) on the same day of the week and if the shirt is missing or I forget that day, I'm so OC that I just refuse to do it at all. I know that is ridiculous.  Hence, only two pictures from the last month and a half.  I can only blame me.

Get ready to see some shocking belly growth.



Yeah, I ran 12.5 miles with that belly.  I was within 3 feet of an almost doctor the whole time, so it was safe.  It also looks like my normal chin is morphing into a double chin, which I find upsetting.  My sciatica is almost non-existent which is WONDERFUL.  I have been cough-y, sneeze-y for the past several months and can't seem to shake it--I guess I would prefer my body to be putting all its energy into growing a baby, but it's getting a little old.  I have heartburn, but it's getting better.  The baby has kicked me hard enough to HURT me--he's a strong little sucker.  I think he needs to practice his defense now so he'll be ready to ward off his big brother.

...so hopefully you'll get one more pregnancy update before the baby is born... but don't count on it.

Week 19-21
Week 17-18

Finley on the Carousel

I've been struggling with how to process all the pictures from our great Florida adventure, and I've decided to go ahead and post pictures in short bursts.  Victoria reminded me today that it's my blog and I'm doing it to keep my memories instead of scrapbooking so I should post whatever I want, even if no one comments.  Amen, sister.

Because I certainly want to remember this sweet boy on the carousel, with his sock monkey/pirate socks.

The carousel rarely had a line and Finley seemed to enjoy riding around.  He had to wear a silly leather strap to hold him to the horse and it wasn't even close to fitting his tiny waist.



In unrelated news, I took Finley to the doctor to check his weight  and because he's been a little sniffly/coughy for the past month or so--and it turns out he has a sinus infection and two ear infections.  This news makes me even more impressed with his sweet behavior at Disneyworld.  I'd take him back in a second.



He only gained an ounce over the past 3 months, but the doctor said that was fine because most babies lose weight when they are sick.  He's been pretty mopey the past few days and said "up please!" about a thousand times, but I'm glad he should be feeling good soon.  Thank you, antibiotics.

The Family at Hogwarts

One of the highlights and most stressful parts of our trip to Orlando was...

HARRY POTTER LAND.

My family can be quite serious about amusement parks--we arrived at Universal a half hour before it opened and power walked to THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER.  Finley did NOT like being rushed through the park and only wanted me to carry him which made it very difficult for me to keep up with my speedy family.

We finally got to Hogwarts.  Isn't it majestic?



We waited in a relatively short 30 minute line as I realized that expectant mothers are NOT supposed to go on the ride.  And I REALLY wanted to go.  Sol and I waited with Finley in the baby swap area while my family went on the ride to let us know if they thought it was safe for us.  My sister (the doctor) and my mother told me they didn't think I should go.  I was sad.  So Sol went on the ride without me to double check it's safety--and my brothers snuck on a second time.  Sol's verdict: it was safe.  So my dad and Laura snuck back on with me.  (WE ARE SNEAKY.)  I loved it and it was awesome.

The whole little Hogsmeade village was chaotic--you couldn't go in a shop or walk in a straight line through it--but it was magical.  We didn't spend much time there because it was a little stressful with Finley and there were other rides to conquer.  But we did take this sweet family picture in front of the pretty snow capped buildings in the little village.



It was so fun to take Finley to Harry Potter's house (at least that's what I kept telling him) even if he didn't enjoy it quite as much.

Go see sweet pictures of other people embracing their kiddos at the link below.

Faces

I love this sweet little face.



And I love this little pirate hat.



And I also love this little face--this is Finley's little pal Margaret.  We've been so lucky to make friends here with kiddos Finley's age.  Miss Margaret became a big sister on Monday--as you can tell she is very excited about this development.



We are too--and we can't wait to meet her little sister!

Smile

I hope you aren't tired of Disney World pictures yet... because there are sure more to come.

(Do you like the boat shoes-cowboy belt combo? I do.)

Finley (as you may know) is terrible at looking at the camera and smiling.  Now when I ask him to smile, he sticks his tongue part way out and bites it.  I'm not sure where he picked it up, but it's better than nothing!

Look at the castle!

My sister worked at the Magic Kingdom for a few weeks one Christmas, and is now privy to a wealth of Disney secrets. One of my favorites is to always focus the guests' attention on the castle.

Woman have her heel caught in the tracks in the path of oncoming parade? Look at the castle!

I dropped out of the marathon shortly after running by the castle, and there was something magic about it. My knees stopped hurting, I smiled, and ran a little faster. Then stopped.

My dad, sis and husband all finished and did great. More details to follow. All in all, a great, magical day.

Meeting Mickey

Today we went to the Magic Kingdom and Finley got to meet Mickey.  (Mickey and I had already met.  More details on that in a bit.)  Luckily, he wasn't scared of Mickey--he gave Mickey and Minnie a kiss and was happy to see them.



The Magic Kingdom is such a sentimental place.  I spent the day with my brothers, dad, husband and son.  I was the only girl.  For a few fleeting moments I wished Finley was a girl so I could put him in a Princess dress--and then I saw some little boys dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow and I decided boys are ok after all.

I also happen to be a sentimental person.  Watching Finley's amazement seeing the castle or Mickey and getting to take him to the happiest place on earth made me choke up several times--I refrained from crying because I was surrounded by so many tough men.  And I wish I could blame it on the pregnancy hormones, but I can't.  You see, the first time I met Mickey... I cried.  I wish I could say it was because I was scared or that I was a toddler.  But I wasn't.  I was in college.



In my defense, my friends really like Disney and Megan cried too.  And it was only like one tear.  Disney is a sentimental place, dang it.  And I'm pretty sure we cried because the kids in line in front of us were really cute and enamored with Mickey.  That's how I choose to remember it.  Please don't judge me.

Peace, love and Mickey.

Christmas Goodies

Santa was good to us this year!

My best best gifts were a sweet surprise iPad from my parents, a pink iPod nano, and some AWESOME platinum/gold Sperry's from my husband.  How cool are they?  SO COOL, right?  (Also cool?  Sol was totally not posing for this picture.  He stands like that 95% of the time.  And I lounge around with my feet up 95% of the time too.  Also I'm wearing skinny jeans, all for you Marie and Vic.)



Finley got spoiled a bunch--we got him the kitchen, my parents got him a slide-basketball-hoop apparatus and Sol's family got him a ton of goodies.  Because we are huge suckers, we also decided to get him this dancing, singing Mickey.  He likes it and likes to show it to people, he's not quite as enamored with it as I would like considering the price tag... but I'm really pushing for this Disney World trip to be the highlight of, well, his life, so hopefully Mickey helps us get there!

Sol got 13 custom made shirts (long story...) and a Blu-Ray surround sound system.  Neither of those are fun to photograph. He also got a make your own beer kit and a fancy new Dremel!  Lucky boy, however I hope he doesn't plan to mix beer and Dremel...injury and property damage are the likely result.

In closing, my iPad is basically serving as a fancy Scrabble board (rachelps on Words with Friends, let's play!) so I am happy to take suggestions for cool apps.  Lay em on me.

Cutest Baby in the House

I'm feeling the need to post lots of pictures of Finley before a smaller, newer model comes along and usurps his place as cutest small thing in the house.

Enjoy. (Do you like how I artfully hid any objectionable baby bits?)

Who is this kid?

No seriously, this does not look like my baby.

For one, he is smiling at the camera, which I didn't know he was capable of doing.

And for two, he certainly does not look like a baby.  Which is good, I guess, because what in the world would I do if I had two babies?  Is that even possible?

(And Summer, do you see what he is holding?  He loves that baby.)

It's been a good break and I'm sad to go back to school tomorrow... but it's only for three days and then we are going to... DISNEY WORLD!!!