More Fire Drills Please

My children are currently playing “Fire Drill” where they pretend there is a fire and then they try to warn everyone so they can all get out in time. Sounds noisy right? Wrong. For some crazy reason, unknown to me, they are whispering “fire fire” so quietly, no one would ever hear them, let alone if we were all sleeping. We’re all gonna die.

3 months old already?

Finley (also known as- Finn, Finster, Fin-wee, Finney, Finners, and Finnegan), is 3 months old. It has gone by so fast, I am astounded, has that much time really passed? He is such a sweet and good natured baby, I feel absolutely spoiled to know he’s really mine. Finley loves to smile, and has a grin at the ready for any moment he might catch your eye. And he is so alert and aware, he has to know just what is going on, and with so many brothers and sisters, there is always a commotion somwhere for some form of entertainment for him. He is a constant blur of motion and activity with all of the leg kicking and arm flailing, he is very active, and so strong. He loves to wiggle himself into postition so he can slide right off of his bouncy seat and onto the floor, very quietly, and then when I catch him, he gives me a little monkey grin and looks very pleased with himself, and does it all over again as soon as I slide him back on (my bouncy is an older metal frame model, reclined, and low to the ground, so he can’t get hurt….unless I put the bouncy on a countertop and walk away…Ahhhh!!!!). He loves to be in the middle of the mania, so if I’m in the kitchen Finn wants to hang out in there too, he can’t stand to miss out on any fun. And every night, each one of the children insists on kissing him before they go to bed, some more gentle than others. Bedtime just isn’t complete witout this nightly ritual. Finn has seamlessly joined our family, with his happy little smile, bright, inquisitive blue eyes, and adorable red hair, we can’t remember what we did without him, he is the finishing touch, and the perfect ending to the baby-days at our house.

Blessing Finley and Mark’s Birthday, Whew! It Was Quite a Day!

We had quite a crazy weekend, and a happily busy one at that, packed to the gills with fun and entertainment. We blessed F on Saturday morning, and then had a luncheon right afterwards. It was so much fun, and turned out so wonderfully, I am so thankful for everyones help, it all went so smoothly. And I am so thrilled that both of my grandmothers got to be there as well as my Auntie Patti to see F blessed, it made it all the more memorable for me. (D was there for just the blessing, and gave a lovely opening prayer, but had to leave before we served the food) F looked so handsome and sweet for his big day, and to complete his outifit I was able to finish making his special bonnet out of a vintage Irish linen handkerchief. It’s meant to be worn as a bonnet, and then once you remove the stitching it turns back into a hanky and you can give it to your son for his future wife to carry on her wedding day (or daughter to carry on hers if you do this for a baby girl), and then it can be remade into a bonnet again for their own babies. So fun! The hanky I bought had drawnwork on it, and my Granny told me that she had learned how to do drawnwork as a very young girl growing up in Ireland, and if I ever wanted to learn she would be more than happy to teach me (there is no question I will be taking her up on this offer). Anyways, after the blessing, the girls (my sister, mom, grandma, auntie and myself) all went to the D.I. for some fun scavenging, and I came away with two bags of awesome finds. Then I went home so Craig could leave to go motorbiking, and everyone else left for town to get ready for Mark’s birthday party that night.
The theme for Mark’s birthday party was “Arrested Development”, and Mel did an awesome job of making things tie in (I for one loved all of the signs and that everything was “Alliance Approved”), and it was made very well known that “Family Love Marky”. The birthday party was incredibly fun, and we all agreed that the magician was very entertaining and pretty funny. I know my favorite part was when he juggled fire, it was awesome! We loved it when A was called to come up and be a part of the act, he was so funny, but we all laughed really hard when Gary was called upon to come up and participate in a card trick. I know he was hating it, but he was an incredibly good sport, and even looked like he was having a good time. Afterwards, the “Arrested Development trivia game”, which Mark won hands down, had us all laughing, and then we had “Marky Trivia”, which was also hilarious (although references to D.G.&L. were lost on some people). And there was a slip and slide set up for the kids (or adults if they were gutsy/brave enough), and it was a HUGE success, and everyone from W and G-bee on up was taking turns going down and getting wet. The “Points Auction” Melly had was a great idea too. I won a pair of “Alliance Approved” handcuffs, and C got “Mother’s ‘R’ Horn”. (I am still laughing about “Gene Parmesans eyebrow disguises”, did Ryan trade them to Gary after all? and who ended up with the hook?) Anyways, Marky got to open up all of his fun gifts, and then we cleaned up, loaded up the car and headed home. It had been a very long, exciting, fun filled day for all of us, and we all collpsed into bed exhausted but in a very good and happy way.
Thankyou so much to everyone for helping us make F’s day so special and memorable for his blessing and so much fun. And Marky we are so glad we could be there for your birthday party, Melly you planned a super fun one, we all loved it! The kids are still talking about it, and playing with their magic kits, you did an awesome job!

Nothing So Sweet As This...

Early this morning, at 3:31 am, after many, many late nights, it happened. Finley smiled at me, his first real smile. Not just a little smirk, but a huge, open mouth grin, and little noises that were on the verge of ending in giggles, it was as though he just couldn’t contain it anymore. I though my heart would just melt, for there is nothing sweeter or more precious than the first time they smile. I love the way their eyes and little face light up as they find their grin, it makes my soul just sing when I see it. I never tire of their milestones, no matter how many times I have seen my babies achieve their “firsts”, it’s always so amazing, and wonderful to me. This is just the beginning for Finn, I know, and I think that a sweet little baby smile is the best way to start, don’t you?

Too Much Love Shouldn’t Be a Bad Thing

Little Gracen really loves her baby brother Finn, but sometimes it’s a little too much. I have to watch her like a hawk, otherwise she is all over him. Just today she tried to feed him a mini pretzel, and had part of it in his mouth trying to get him to take a bite. She has also tried to give him a drink of her juice on several occasions, but she ends up dousing him with it instead. She really does love her baby brother, she just doesn’t realize that he’s too little for her to play with yet. That hasn’t stopped her from trying to pick him up, or from patting him on the head a little too “lovingly” and enthusiastically while she tells me “my baby”. I do appreciate the fact that she loves him, and I am happy to say we haven’t had any issues with jealousy, so I’m not complaining. I just have to make sure I keep an eye on her, or else she will try to carry him off to be a guest at her next tea party.

Hey Little Man, Not So Fast

Six seeks already and I still can’t believe it, that went by much too fast. Finley is doing quite a bit of growing these days, and I am even starting to see a tiny bit of baby chub here and there, but he is still quite long and skinny. He was officially 6 weeks old on Tuesday and weighed in at 8 lbs. 8 oz. that day. I know, he’s still a ways off from reaching ”sumo” status, but he’s working on it.

   He’s still very laid back, and such a sweet little guy. Finn likes to be either very wide awake or very much asleep, so we get a lot of time to enjoy him as he takes in his surroundings during his awake time. And with 6 other brothers and sisters, that can be some really noisy surroundings. Luckily he takes it all in stride, for which I am very grateful. The kids still fight over who gets to hold him, his popularity hasn’t diminished in the slightest, and we can’t seem to remember a day without him in our family.

Hey, I Didn't Know That...

In talking with my Mom shortly after I had Finn, she began to tell me about the night that I was born. It turns out that when she had me, the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck three times and I was delivered looking a “lovely” shade of blue. Due to that, I was placed in the ICU for several days after my birth in an isolette, and my Mom said that whenever they took me out of the isolette, I turned blue again. Apparently I was having issues with my breathing, and I was definitely NOT a preemie, in fact I was about 3 1/2 weeks overdue (my poor, poor mother….) so I’m guessing it had nothing to do with immature lungs. How did I not know this story about my own birth? I know I have asked my Mom many times before to tell me about the day I was born….so how did this not come up in the 35 years since then? I must not be asking the right questions. I wonder what else I should know about?