8wks

the girls are back in town

(i have to keep this short because finn thinks i'm starving him to blog...)
my beloved t cheney got married this weekend. and because someone upstairs loves me, she got married in utah. which meant that ash and kerrie couldn't not attend. which meant i got to hang out with 3 of my favorite girls in the world. i give you a couple pictures to show that i do have friends besides finn (who hates my guts right now) and penny.

kal, whitney, ashwe, alicen, the bride-to-be t cheney, me and finn, kate, rachel, kerrie anne and arianne

baby finn being happy before driving to the reception (and yes, his hair is a bit red)

my girl ash got finn to fall asleep (like a dozen different times) before the night was over

mrs sorenson in her cuter-than-cute custom made-by-mom dress...love it!

the posse: finn and ash, me, trish and kerrie
i had so much fun getting together with these ladies. it's been too long, years in fact, since we've all been in the same state.
i love you girls! and congrats trish!

baby finn is a little tough guy

at least that's what his onesie says

man of my dreams

almost two months ago, i met the man of my dreams. he isn't the 6'2" football playing pacific islander (really 14yr old self?) i had visions of marrying when i was, well, 14. but, he does have the dark hair, dazzling straight-toothed smile and laugh-my-pants-off sense of humour i cannot live without. and it doesn't hurt that he helped me make the cutest kid this side of the miss'sip. i knew i loved my husband more than anyone/anything in this world before baby finn came along, but now that i see him as a husband AND father...i'm at a loss for words. so...
i love you, mor. more than the day i met you (decked out in your speedo), more than the day you asked me to marry you (with the help of coop and ains), more than the day i married you (in the sweatiest place on earth), more than yesterday and the day before, but not as much as tomorrow.
happy father's day.

baby finn meets the family

well, kids, i took a trip back to the old country (indiana) and it was great. my mom tickled my back and held my kid when he was naggy; my sisters oohed and awed over how adorable their newest nephew is; my nieces and nephews held and schmuggled their aunt v (and asked why penny didn't come with me and where uncle moy was); and my dad assured me finn wasn't sour (after sniffing the top of his head), which i guess my uncle gary used to do too. my visit was delightful. the traveling to and fro, not so much. finn was a champ during take-offs, landings and turbulence, but the smooth sailing parts were not so smooth. it wasn't that he cried and screamed as much as he thought flying was an excuse to eat and eat. and eat. and i'm sure the gentlemen sitting next to me were appreciative of that. (have you ever tried nursing on an airplane?) anyway. here's the proof everyone at home loved our finn...

grandpa dave loving his newest grandson. thank you so so SO much for bringing us home, dad.

our favorite aunt and great-aunt lana. she got him to smile the biggest smile. i was jealous.

believe it or not, the kid took to that cousin em and fell asleep in her arms like this.

well, he already knows that grandma lady but got to meet baby g, pain, grandpa john and rudy (and take a spin on the crazy neighbor's golfcart).

baby finn and aunt mimi
there were many other people he got to love on too without the photographic evidence: uncle jase and swee, uncle matty, aunt e and coop (who, when holding him, told a fussy finn "it's okay, your coopy's here"), uncle rog and aunt joyce, david and karri, maleah and her brood and blakey.
we had so much fun being with everyone, even if the humidity did a doozie on my kid's hair (can you say "voluminous"?), and we cannot wait to get back.

breastfeeding 101

just a short list of what i didn't know (but wish i did) etc about nursing...
1. it hurts. a lot.
2. even though your baby doesn't have teeth, they can and will still "bite" you using their pearly little gums.
3. if they don't want to let go, it's pretty much like trying to pry a lion off a zebra: practically impossible.
4. if you are going to be a full-time nursing mommy, invest in a comfy rocking chair; you'll be spending the majority of your day (and some nights) there.
5. most babies (okay, maybe just mine) do not enjoy ethnic food (read: will throw up, fart, burp and cry excessively), such as chinese or thai.
6. your niskles will bruise and callus and get all kinds of ugly when nursing.
7. babies have the sucking strength of, um, something that is really strong at sucking/suctioning: i've sometimes felt like the babe was going to suck out my insides with how powerful his suction is.
8. curling your toes and gritting your teeth does help take the edge off the initial latch-on.
9. it's worth every single ache and pain to know that you and you alone can sustain your child.

baby for sale

i took the kid to catch a few minutes of shut-eye last night around 9p. bad idea. he slept and squirmed and tooted and burped and did not allow for much naptime for his mama. around 10p, he was awake and hungry (isn't he always?). we nursed and he was back off to dreamland. or so i thought. 10:30p he was awake and hungry. again. we changed dirty pants, nursed and he was back off to dreamland. or so i thought. 11p he was awake and, you guessed it, hungry. again. now, i don't want you to think poorly of me as a nursing mother, but i've been told (and firmly believe) if i am available and my kid is hickeying his own arm with hunger (which happened the other day), i will nurse. I AM MOTHER, WATCH ME NURSE! however, when this trend continued at 12m, 1a, 2a, 3:30a etc, i was ready to place a "for sale" sign on my kid and set him out front. i may have done just that, too, if there weren't 4 police cars outside our house from 3-4:30a performing their monthly raid of the around-the-corner neighbors (for being illegal or druglords or whatever). so instead, we changed dirty pants, nursed and napped pretty much round the clock. and then this morning, before i finally dragged us both out of bed at 10:45a, and i rolled over and sniffed my kid good morning, i realized no lack of sleep could ever make me sell a kid that smelled so dang good after so many late-night/early-morning diaper changes and feedings.
doesn't hurt that he's unbelievably adorable either.

4wks

this kid...

...thinks he needs to grow up. despite my countless attempts to convince him otherwise, he keeps doing it, keeps getting bigger, chubbier, cuter, longer, stronger...you name it, he's doing it. i love it.
and i hate it.
*sigh*