The Best Dads Around

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads/Poppas/Grandpas in our lives. We love you!

Pics from Madison Trip

Sum, Sum, Summertime!!!

School's Out For The Summer! Woot Woot! Summer has officially begun, and to kick it off, I'm doing....nothing. Kyle is going to the Twins game tonight with his dad while I stay at home with the kids. Not to be left home alone too much, I do get to go out with my girlfriends tomorrow night for some dinner and drinks. Always much needed by the time we can all coordinate schedules.

Plans for the summer? Oh yes. Kyle's aunt e-mailed us to check on free weekends, and I could give her two. The first and second weekend in July. Seriously??? Our summer is already that booked??? Looks like it. No major trips planned, just random things here and there that fill up the calendar. Kyle has two bachelor parties. Little Miss Reese (or Baby Reese as I like to call her) will be turning 1 at the end of July. Can't miss that little peanut's birthday party. Plus some time spent in IL lounging in Nana and Poppa's pool. Add the zoo, splash park, library, and preschool, and you've successfully created a busy summer! Bring on the FUN!

Movin' and Groovin'

Finally!!! Aubrey is FINALLY walking! Yes, she is 14 months old and just taking her first steps. I would have been excited if she had done it two months ago, but now I am ecstatic. Well worth the wait to see her smiling face and hear her giggles as she toddles around.

Road Trip

The kids and I are headed down to Madison this weekend to visit my sister and her family. Aidan has been talking about it for days, so I know he can't wait to get there. Bonus: My mom and dad are coming up Saturday late afternoon to join us for dinner and some quality time with the kids. It's going to be a short trip, but packed with fun!

Life in Finnland

Living creatures far and wide have decided that Finnland is the place to be. Two ticks hitched a ride home on Aidan a week and a half ago (still dealing with that drama) and now some furry little mammals that squeak and chatter have set up residence. Yes, mammals, plural. I was greeted by a mouse in the laundry room on Tuesday evening and a chipmunk who appears to be living in our garage ceiling. What in the world could be so appealing about our house?!?! We have a dog for goodness sakes! Aren't predatory animals supposed to scare away unwanted riff-raff?

Other than extra inhabitants, the Finn household is operating as usual. Kyle is busy increasing our portfolio by trading options and watching the kids. I'm busy wrapping up the school year. (countdown: 9 school days left) As I finish school, Aidan will be starting a one-morning a week preschool program through our local school district. Open house is next Wednesday, so Kyle gets the honor of meeting Aidan's first teacher since I am still in school. He's really excited about that. (note sarcasm) Aubrey is Aubrey. Is she walking yet? No. Is she talking yet? Not really. She says "mama" and Kyle swears that she says "duck" all day long, but she has yet to say it around me. However, she can woof and whine like a dog, thanks to Roxie. I think she also tries to quack and moo, but I doubt any other person would know what she was doing.

So there you have it. Life in Finnland.

Sassy Pants

Someone in the Finn household has decided she's the queen bee and wants to let everyone know it. Nope, it's not me, (I think we all know that I run the show) it's Aubrey. When I picked her up from the YMCA the other day, the staff described her as a "Sassafras". I took that to mean "bossy", and I was not offended in the slightest. The teacher had Aubrey pegged. She knows what she wants. In the case of the YMCA, Aubrey has decided that the play kitchen is her domain and no one else is allowed to come near it when she is in there. Apparently she was screeching and hollering every time another child so much as put a toe in the doorway. We're going to have to work on sharing.

In Aidan's world, he's into exaggerating his comments. Here are a few that made me smile this week:

"Thank you, Mama. Thank you VERY much."

"You are VERY welcome, Daddy."

"Auuuubbbbrrey, STOP WHINING. You are going to have to go to your crib if you don't stop." (perhaps he should take his own advice)

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, Roxie" (this phrase is heard multiple times an hour, every day)

"I'm SO SAD, Mama." (me: Why are you sad?) "Because I didn't get to eat dessert"

Battle Royale

As I type this, I am listening to Aidan whine and cry in his crib. Nothing makes me angrier than when he won't take a nap, he's loud, and he keeps Aubrey from sleeping. Grrr. Why do I engage in this battle? Because he's an absolute monster by 4:30pm if he doesn't take a nap. I realize we're probably winding down on naps, but we're not there yet. Any suggestions? Kyle uses incentives during the week, like watching Clifford or Super Readers. I try that on the weekends, to no avail. Last resort is spiking his milk with some Valium at lunch time. (kidding)

Blog Vacation

I took an unintended blog vacation for the past 3 weeks. Our main computer has been acting up and it was taking upwards of 10 minutes for one page to load...SUPER frustrating. I felt like I was using dial-up internet! Anyway, Kyle cleaned up the hard drive and we're back in business for the moment.

April has flown by in a tornado of activity. Aidan and Aubrey had their 1 and 3 year doctor's appointments. Aidan checked out perfectly. He is growing taller, chattering constantly, learning his letters and numbers, and is an overall ball of energy. He weighs 29lbs and is 37 inches tall (I think...I'm typing at school)

Aubrey is also growing taller, however, she is not gaining weight. My gut says a food allergy, but the dairy and soy tests came back negative. The doctor also did a bunch of bacteria/parasite tests which also came back negative. Right now she's on an antibiotic because one of her injection sites got infected (2 weeks AFTER getting her shots...weird) so we'll see what her diapers are like once she's done with the medicine in a few days. Aubrey weighs 18 lbs 4 oz and is 29 3/4 inches tall...placing her in the 7th percentile for weight. *sigh* I love her petiteness, but not if she's not getting the nutrients she needs to be healthy. I've got her drinking coconut milk and she seems to love it. She chugged an entire 10oz at dinner last night and yelled at me when it was empty. :) I'm hoping the fat content in that will fill her out.

We celebrated Easter at our house by hunting eggs and candy and then getting dressed up and heading to Mass. We had a rabbits' nest in our front yard, so I told Aidan that's where the Easter Bunny lived. He went out to the hole (which was empty by then) and told the Easter Bunny that he wanted pajamas and 2 hockey sticks for Easter. The Easter Bunny ended up bringing pajamas, but no hockey sticks. Seriously, we already have 2 at our house. We don't need 2 more.

The Family That Blogs Together...

The family that blogs together, stays together. Right? Kyle has started his own blog, detailing his quest to SuperNova Elite. (SNE) I won't even begin to try to explain it on here, but if you're interested in Kyle's professional poker playing career, check out his blog, "CAPture SNE" at http://capturesne.blogspot.com/. I've also got it linked on this blog over on the right hand side, under "favorite Blogs". A word of advice, start at the beginning (March 24) otherwise you won't have a clue what he is talking about.

Aidan and Aubrey had their last birthday bash on Saturday night when Grandpa and Aunt Marsha came over for dinner. Yes, that makes 4(!) times that Aidan got to celebrate his birthday, and 3 times for Aubrey. There's no question about it, they both know exactly how old they are and can show you on their fingers. Practice makes perfect.

Opening presents with Grandpa

Pinocchio that Grandpa got for Aidan in Italy

In the coveted new Thomas the Train shirt
Thank you, Aunt Marsha!

Dumpster Diving in her future?