Lately

 Turns out making a human being out of food is hard work. Don't ask me why I decided to do it all over again! They say you forget and I did, but just for a brief period, once the deed was done it ALL came flooding back and I was locked into this roller coaster with a hope, but no chance of jumping off.
I'm 20 weeks (1/2 way woop woop) and:
-my toddler is still alive
-there is "food" in the fridge
-clothes on our backs
-and our house is still standing
So I would say I'm KILLING it!
On the days that: Finn has never seemed faster or more full of energy, my bed has never seemed more comfortable, anything but ice cream appears to be toxic sludge, and Dora episodes some how make me cry (no matter what challenge that little chubby explorer is faced with, she and that booted monkey just tackle them!) I try to remember how completely worth it, it will all turn out to be..... right?!


In other news, last week our home was stricken with whatever this year had to dish out on the flu. I'm assuming Finn got it from the YMCA (that will show me for working out) and then D got it from him.
I however got a flu shot (being pregnant and all I was top priority) and poor Finn was scheduled to get one in a week! So I was ship shape to take care of my sad boys.

I am officially a terrible person because it pained me to see Daniel feel better and head off to work this morning. But I'm SO relieved Finn is feeling better and is his happy energetic self again.

Quick Christmas recap

 So I stink at constant updates, but now that I'm pregnant I have a legitimate excuse. I'll keep it short and sweet because it's all about the pictures anyway, right?

Making and decorating sugar cookies on Christmas Eve! We stayed in Houston this year and had our first little family Christmas all on our own. Finn was a blast Christmas morning, jumping and clapping after every unwrapped present, and true to form his favorite gift was probably the push pop that Santa put in his stocking.

 

Finn and Daddy watched some football ***side note Finn is eating a huge scoop of peanut butter on a cereal spoon that he got all by himself in this picture (he is my child)** 

We got new PJ's and Finn got to open "Brobie"a Yo Gabba Gabba (such a trip) pillow.

We put our beautifully decorated cookies, a carrot, and some egg nog out for Santa and his reindeer and we were off to bed!

The rest of the break consisted of Finn eating his push pop (as mentioned earlier) and occasionally building robots with his new blocks with daddy.

 

That weekend Daniel rocked the yummiest Souffles in the entire world. So yeah I'd say Christmas was all in all quite a success.

Dallas!

When Daddy went home to work hard, Finn and I stayed to hang out with Anna and Jamie and their cute kids who were visiting from Wyoming and Idaho for the week.

 

 Played with Pugga a lot! Went to the Stock Yards in Fort Worth, went shopping, and went to the Dallas Zoo!!

We have loved all the time we've had with cousins this month! Coming home to be with just Mommy and Daddy is Bore-O.

OCTOBER

 We have bucket lists and we are checking them off! This month was short and sweet.

 The Pumpkin patch- and it was well worth the long drive out of the city! We fed goats, ate corn and fried Oreos, played in the hay, played on the play ground, picked out pumpkins, and Finn got bit in the leg by a goose! Despite the fact that it was 85 degrees and I was completely bitter about it, we had a great time.

Then we took those pumpkins and carved the crap out of them :) Kylie and Zach came over and we ate homemade applesauce, spider Oreos, and at least tried to listen to Halloween music (turns out it's all pretty much terrible).

 I worked on our costumes and made Finn a little mad scientist jacket out of a men's button down shirt,then I fashioned some leather gloves and some goggles to finish it off and we were a family of freaks! Two Frankenstein monsters and the Mad Scientist that created us! We were set to go to Grant and Callie's Halloween party!

It was such a blast and all the detail work was amazing! Callie is a pro at throwing parties and at making costumes, this was their "Minion" costume and Finn was convinced that it was Muno from Yo Gabba Gabba and was starstruck all night!

 We finished the month off with some cupcake decorating and trick-or-treating with cousins. It was a fun year of Halloween with Finn, he was mesmerized by the idea of running around outside past his bed time, knocking on doors and getting candy from complete strangers!! (and I realized that this holiday is seriously weird...)

 Earlier in the month we had a party with my Boy Scouts and Finn quickly caught on to the doughnut on a string game :)

When Nona comes to visit...

 Nona surprised us with a visit last month!! She was staying for a full week and we were absolutely ecstatic!

We introduced her to the finest fajitas Texas has to offer at Lupe Tortilla, then just played and played! This included story time at Discovery Green, feeding ducks and riding the train at Hermann Park and going to the Houston Zoo. Finn was in heaven, he looooves his Nona.

 

At the end of the week we sadly and SLOWLY drove Nona back to the airport and there Finn would not let her go. He just held her and said "no Nona, no Nona!" 

Who can say no to that sweet face, definitely not Nona and at times not even me!

SOOO........

I sent him on the plane with her? yep, yep I did. With nothing but the clothes on his back, and a few diapers and snacks that I had packed for the day, he was put on a plane to Utah for another WEEK with Nona and this time, PAPA!

of course he had SO much fun with his fun cousins, a ton of toys, snacks and treats whenever he wanted, and unlimited time with his Nona and Papa. Adding a lot of calls home to Mommy and Daddy to ensure that we survived too!

Airport reunion!

Then as an extra bonus, I got to visit Utah at the most beautiful time of the year!

The End... Right? 

What a couple of weeks, there couldn't possibly be more?

WELL, we got such a good deal on my ticket because it came with a 24 hr layover in Colorado. So we got to see Cory and Mindy and more of our fun cousins!!

 We stopped by to see Cory in action and I just couldn't resist taking a picture of his name on the door in HUGE letters. He's so professional it's crazy, I'm so proud of him!

these children are adorable and I am officially wrapped around their little fingers!

Finn completely adored his cousins they were so sweet to him and we had so much fun! 24 hours was NOT enough time!

a of fit spontaneity.... and now it's all gone

 After one night of no sleep

followed by a long day of flying

followed by a full day of church

I made an important decision....

being the impulsive spontaneous person that I am, I acted on said decision without quality meditation and contemplation.

I. cut. Finn's. hair.

I know I sound like I'm regretting it--I haven't decided if I am or not. I think he is stinkin' cute no matter what (obviously, but mother or not, with one smile this kid could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves). 

He was a trooper through the whole thing. Getting mini M&M's handed to him even though they entered his mouth with copious amounts of hair, while he sat still, seemed like a fair trade to him!

FTW

Airline buddy passes (despite the fact that they were with United gag me) have been moved to the very top of my favorite things list.

 Show up to the 5 am flight 30 minutes early so that the "gate keeper" 

can take one look at your ticket reading Stand By and snub you to the side despite

 your completely full arms and screaming baby. Then wait while every single person boards

 the plane to see if by some chance some ticketed traveler pushed snooze one 

too many times on their alarm clock that morning. 

It all being worth it because....

Thanks to them we were able to spend time with two of my most favorite people in the whole world (drum roll pleeese...) my sister Aunt Betsy and her ridiculously cute son Cam-bo!!

They surprised us with a fun visit all the way from Tennessee and we could not have been happier! 

These little guys are like kindred spirits and it kills me that they live so far apart, so we made the very best of their time together!

We:
read lots of books, went on walks, played in the Texas rain, played in the play place, ate yummy lots of Texas food!

When it came time for them to leave we couldn't take it!

SO we hoped on the same flight back with them!! (thank you buddy pass again!)

We looked a bit ridiculous with our large load and two kids but it was SOO worth it

In Nashville we stayed busy with all of the fun things there are to do there. Not that I'm surprised, but who knew Nashville, right?!

It is so so green complemented by the large rolling hills that makes it gorgeous. 

They live in such a fun area complete with a huge pond filled with turtles. I'm convinced it's where Bowser (conniving Mario Brothers super villain) lives.

The downtown scene was only about 1 MILLION times better than Houston's and even the most country-music-hating person would find it hard not to have a blast with all of the live music!

And um, turns out there is an exact replica of the Parthenon in Nashville....? Right?!

I love you Bets and Cam-man and we already miss you so much! Thanks for an amazing 2 weeks!