The "Finnster, et al."

This has been a fairly busy week.  Michael had the draft at our house Sunday night so we spent the weekend, cleaning, cooking and generally preparing for that.  Finn was so excited for the "football party" as he calls it.   He didn't know what to do when the party was in full swing.  He was so excited for cookies while at the same time so excited that Greg (one Michael's friends) was playing dinosaurs with him.  Once dinner was over I took the boys upstairs.  Finn and I played trains and hide-n-seek until bedtime.  I can't really explain why, but I had so much fun playing with Finn.  After making one final appearance to tell everyone goodnight Finn went to bed.  He woke me up at 6:00 the next morning and whispered, "Mom, can I go back downstairs to the football party."  Poor child thought that everyone was still at the house. This week Finn has been obsessed with detours. When I picked him up from JT's house on Tuesday the first t...

On Friday the boys and I went to Chic-Fil-A in Mt. Juliet for Jake's First Birthday.  Jake is one of the children that Gran nannies for.  Finn had a ball.  He ate chicken nuggets for the first time (and loved them), he had cupcakes and he played with a very bossy little girl (not anyone from our group) in the play area.  We were very happy to get an invitation and we had a great time! Sam was not as good.  He was uncharacteristically fussy the whole time.  Finn left the party with Michael and the two went back to Michael's office for a while.  Sam and I sat in traffic on 109.  When I got home I took a 2 1/2 hour conference call - I thought I was going to die! Promptly at 7:00 both boys took baths.  Since I spent the whole day with them I felt no guilt whatsoever putting them to bed right at 8:00. 

This week Sam made the upgrade to the family table.  Before, while we ate, he rolled around on the floor and played with Finn's toys.  Well, we decided it was high time for Sam to eat with his family.  In order to make this work we had to assign Finn a new chair so that Sam could sit next to me.  Finn now sits at the end of the table.  Sam enjoys sitting with us.  He eats his food and plays with his toys until we are finished.  The only major problem that I am having with Sam and his eating is that he blows his food out of his mouth.  It goes everywhere and it is gross.  He thinks its funny.  I almost gag every time.  I have decided that I will just stop feeding him altogether until he can start behaving.  He catches on quickly.  When he wants another bite he opens his mouth really wide, leans in toward me and rotates his hands.  I just ignored him for a while.  When I finally gave him his next bite he swallow...

After Phillip's ToyMart Finn went home with Grandad and Gigi to go to the football game while Sam and I went to spend the night with Nana and Papa.  Emily, Coop and Hank were there too.  I always look forward to spending the night at Nana and Papa's house on Friday nights because I know that I am going to get pizza.  This particular evening Emily and I decided that in addition to pizza we wanted to split and Philly Cheese steak sandwich.  We washed it all down with cookies and ice cream.  Sam sat at the table with us and dinned on his toes.  He sucked on his little toesies, just like he sucked his thumb.  We all sat up really late talking.  Sam split his time between Nana and Aunt Emily until he couldn't hold his eyes only anymore and feel asleep on the floor.   Mom made him a pallet on the floor next to my bed and he slept soundly through the night.  The next morning mom and made waffles and we relaxed around ...

Last Sunday we met Nana and Papa in Nashville and spent the afternoon at Cheekwood.  In the week preceding Finn had asked several time if he could go to Phillip's ToyMart.  Phillip's ToyMart is only about 2 miles from Cheekwood so I told Finn that after we go to the tree houses we would go to Phillip's ToyMart.  When we got there we found an empty parking lot and a locked door.  Finn was so excited until we told him that the doors were locked.  With the sweetest face he looked up at me and said, "maybe they can borrow your keys mom."  He was so hopeful that we, as his parents, would be able to fix this situation.  Even though it sounds silly, I was so heartbroken for him.  I could see the tears hanging on the edge for several minutes as he walked up and down the building looking into the windows.  Finally he looked up and me and I said, "it's okay to feel sad."  At that moment he burst into tears and hugged me. I almost cried mysel...

Just a few pictures of the boys in their FAO Schwartz shirts. Gran and Pa got the boys these shirts when they went to New York City for Thanksgiving. I should carry a note pad around just to record all the funny, smart and/or ironic things that Finn says.  Today he said while putting his puzzle together - incorrectly, I might add, "now I'm making some progress.  He said it with such conviction inspite of the fact that he put it together wrong. Later in the day he had done something to irritate me.  He looked at me and said, "Is something wrong mom?"  I said "no Finn . . . nothing's wrong"  He followed up with "is everything wrong?"  If I hadn't been so amuzed I would've been tempted to say yes.

  This is a picture of Sam taken at 8:00 p.m. The events leading up this complete "zonk out" are as follows: 10:00 a.m. Early Monday morning I learned that my morning cases had been removed from the morning docket so I decided to keep the boys home with me.   Well, after Sam took one of the worst falls I have ever seen off of the couch I wished that I hadn't.  Poor little thing fell face first off of the couch straight into the hardwood.  I heard every joint in his back and neck pop.  I was terrified.  I made sure that he could move all of his appendages and then sat and held him for a long time.  After he ate he seemed to be just fine.  I kept a close eye on him the rest of the day.  How did he fall you ask?  Well, as I was "adjusting" to feed him he slid right off.  11:00 a.m. I learn that my case had not been cancelled but instead moved to the afternoon docket. Oh no.  Since it was an easy case ...

Sunday after church we met Nana and Papa at SATCO for some tacos out on the deck.  The tacos were the prequel to our fun trip to Cheekwood.  A couple of weeks ago we made an attempt to take the boys on a Monday just to find out that it was closed.  Today was our day of redemption. When we pulled into the gardens we saw tons of cars.  We assumed that it would be packed, but it was actually really nice.  First we stopped to buy our tickets.  Next we started on our journey to see the seven tree houses. The first tree house was my least favorite; it looked like a stained glass window.  Finn didn't really like it very much either.  He was terrified of the slide for some reason.  I later learned it was because he went flying off the end of the slide and fell on his bottom. Next we stopped in the amphitheater to give Finn an opportunity to perform a soliloquy.  Then we went to what I call, the "Swiss Family Robinson" tree house...