Snow angel

Today was a snow day!  Harper woke up and I opened the door to show her the snow.  The look on her face was priceless, pure awe and excitement.

I didn't really prepare well for a snow day though because I didn't really think it would happen.  My plan was to bake, but I forgot to think about the whole list and we didn't have any eggs.  We made some shortbread cookies and gingerbread cookies, neither of which required eggs but did require rolling and cutting (yuck).

Harper got to play in the snow while I scooped the driveway (I'm also fortunate to have great neighbors who finished the last half of my driveway for me).  Tonight she wanted to make a snow angel, so she did!  She was so excited.

Ryden at 18 months

Ryden officially turned 1 1/2 last Monday.  He is growing up so fast.

He loves cars and his blanket. 





















We're still breastfeeding, but he's going to be gone all week so maybe not anymore :(.

Harper is A-MAZ-ING.




















He says hi and bye.  That's it.  Sometimes things sound like dog, ball, book, but only because he's pointing while he's saying it.  LEARN SOME WORDS!

He could play with blocks all day.
















Bedtime is SO easy, but he still wakes up one or two times a night to nurse.

He's a little obsessed with plungers (gross I know).

He would be outside all the time if he could.

Pretty much, he's the coolest 18 month kid I know :)

Leaf Hunt

Last weekend we went on a leaf hunt.

I had this brilliant idea because the leaves are such pretty colors right now.  I'm pretty sure that when I was little, I would draw red, orange, and yellow leaves for fall, but I really thought they just dried up, turned brown and fell off the tree.  Getting Harper to really see all those colors seemed like a good idea.

So I made a list of the things we needed to look for on our leaf hunt.

We headed out on a walk toward the park.

We found lots of leaves.

And other fall nature things.

Then we played at the park.

When we got home, Harper took all of the leaves we found and made a picture.

We will definitely do this again.  As they get older we will definitely identify the types of trees that our leaves come from and learn why leaves turn color and I'm sure that I'll think of more things they will need to learn.  These poor kids with a Biology teacher for a mom.

Weekends

I love weekends!  I like my job, most days, but weekends I get to spend with my kids.  Sometimes they frustrate me, sometimes I have a short temper and snap at them, but I love them all the time.

Last weekend, we went to Touch-A-Truck at a local church.  I thought the kids would totally be into it.  However, I forgot that Harper is ridiculously shy in new situations.  There was a bounce house there though that she HAD to do, wouldn't do anything else until she jumped.  We did get to move past that and this is the point where Ryden discovered the little cars while Harper got some cotton candy.


We really need to get some toy cars.

















The kids did art too!  I found this idea on Pinterest but I failed to think through the fact that my kids are not perfectionists (yet) and wouldn't want to just put their handprints on the tree.  They still turned out pretty cute.

She wanted to be in the picture.  Goofball.

We also went to the pumpkin patch and did not get any pumpkins.  Grandma and Grandpa have supplied us with pumpkins this year.  But we had lots of fun.  Thanks to Audrey for taking pictures ... I wish I had a nice camera.

 Grandma and Grandpa have also supplied us with copious amounts of squash which I have been baking into all sorts of things.  I've made a couple batches of 'pumpkin' bread and this weekend made some pumpkin gingersnap cookies.  

I made some delicious glazed muffins too.  I'm addicted to Pinterest . . .

My favorite

I have a favorite child . . . it is not Harper.  Okay, that's a horrible thing to say, but she has been so difficult lately I definitely prefer Ryden.

She screams, cries, and hits me when something doesn't go her way.  He does this too, but he's 17 months old so it's more understanding.

She refuses to take naps, go to bed at night, sleep in her own bed, etc.  Ryden nurses, gives Harper a hug lays in his bed with his pacifier and goes to sleep, at 7:30.  Granted he wakes up every couple hours but it's a routine.


Plus, Ryden he's just so nice.  He gives kisses and hugs on demand.  He's happy and smiley.  Tonight he wanted to build with MegaBlocs so came and touched my leg, went over to the tub, repeat until I caught on and opened the tub for him.  Someone else, dumped out the entire tub and made a hazard in the house.  I told Ryden to pick up the blocks and he jumped right in.  Harper picked up zero blocks.

I know that she will grow out of this phase (at least I hope so) and that he will most likely move into it.  For now though, Ryden gets the loving, caring mom and Harper gets the annoyed, crabby mom.

Iowa State Fair

I wrote this tiny post almost three weeks ago, but because I'm too ridiculous to upload pictures from my phone it has taken me this long to just post without pictures.  Follow me on Instagram to see pictures @beckyfinck




This weekend we went to the Iowa State Fair with my whole family.

Harper was so excited to go.  Her 'I'm still sleepy' turned into perky and wide awake when she realized it was fair day and not a school/daycare day.

She got to eat her hot dog on a stick that she was promised.  She got to see the butter cow which she said was her favorite thing.  And she went on her first ride ever!

Then she got to stay in a hotel and go swimming.  How much fun was her weekend?

It was fun, but I HATE being gone all weekend and going into the first full week of school has been exhausting.

Butterfly parade

Yay for fun free things!

This morning went to the band parade.  We parked away and walked, too bad I didn't plan very well and we didn't have stroller.  Harper did awesome though, she walked there and back without complaining or asking to be carried once.

Then we got to listen to some fun music.  Both kids loved it, even though we missed the beginning since we had to walk so far.










To follow, we went to the monarch watch on campus and got to check out some caterpillars, chrysalis, and butterflies.  

What are those butterflies doing?

Harper even held a butterfly.  I didn't think she would and it was questionable, but she mustered up enough courage to do it.

This one is almost there . . . the other one has a few more days.

To top it off we got to bring home two chrysalis.  Harper is pretty excited about HER butterfly.

A little more about my day

I remembered today why I went back to HP.  The kids that stopped in today just to say hi and that they miss my class are the reason.  They might not always be well behaved or make you think that they appreciate anything you're doing but they really are good kids.

On a completely unrelated note, Ryden has taken to 'hiding' when he poops.  Harper never did this and I'm taking it as a sign that we can start potty training soon.  :)

A little about my day

Today was the first real day of school.  After yesterday's run through with the freshmen I was left thinking 'Why did I decide to do this again?!?'  However, today went much more smoothly and I remembered that the kids CAN be awesome.  There was a group of boys in one hour that were causing all sorts of problems and I remembered the beginning of the year last year and a group of girls who were so proud that they had made a teacher cry in elementary.  That group of girls became some of my favorite students.  I just have to remember that the first impression isn't always the right one, for better or worse.

The transition for me and the kids into the school routine again hasn't been too rough.  It has been a week and the kids are still struggling to get up in the morning, I, of course, am doing GREAT waking up at 5:30 everyday (heavy on the sarcasm).  Ryden is getting crabby as the days go on and he gets farther behind on sleep.

I will say that not having to pump during the day is making things SO much easier.  Not having to wash the bottles and pump parts every day before making supper is awesome too.  Leaving the house in the morning without having to get bottles is another bonus.  All around, extremely happy that the pumping phase is over even though we're still breastfeeding.

Crossing my fingers for a good year!

All the Grandmas

The other day, Harper informed me that she doesn't have two Grandma's.  She has 'this many' (holding up three fingers).  I asked her who her three Grandma's were and she told me 'dad's parents, my Grandma that lives on a rocky road and Grandma Clayton'.  Well Grandma Clayton is really her Great Grandma and she has three other Great Grandmas but she sees Great Grandma Clayton far more than her other Great Grandmas.

I have also realized while looking for pictures of Harper with her Grandmas, that we need to take more pictures of them.

Homesick

Harper and Ryden are on vacation with Nate for the weekend.  I left them at Mahoney yesterday and they will be home tomorrow.  This is the first time they have seen him for more than a couple hours for almost three months.


I just got the second call of the night where Harper begged to come home.  The last call was horrible, Harper was bawling the whole time, I just want to be there to give her a hug and kiss.  I was gone for 5 days while they were at Grandma and Grandpa's house and she was fine.  Two nights with dad and she's bawling and begging to come home.


It makes me sad.  I hate her being sad and not being able to comfort her.

Garage Sale

I'm having a garage sale this weekend.  This seemed like a good idea to get rid of things.  Garage sales are A  LOT of work!  Still seems like a relatively good idea, but I'm definitely ready for it to be over.  Hopefully I will get rid of some a LOT of stuff and won't have to move it.


Speaking of moving, I signed the lease for our new place yesterday!  It will be less space but that's what happens when you pay $225 a month less in rent.  But it means that I really need to get rid of as much stuff as I can.  Lots of baby clothes and other baby stuff, plus my clothes have already made the cut, but I need to go through the toys and thin them out a little.  While I was sorting through things in the garage closet, I came across evidence of a mouse!  Let's just say that ruined the awesome feelings of cleaning spaces out.


Now, off to price things and attempt to organize it all.

My vacation

Harper and Ryden survived an entire week without me, I survived too.  I had a little too much fun in California and I'm still tired even though the week with Grandma and Grandpa somehow got Ryden to sleep much better at night (I say somehow because when I called after the first night I was informed that he slept in bed with them)  Calling was another issue all together since I forgot my phone, thanks to everyone who let me borrow their phone to call home.

Ryden got pumped milk at bedtime and was just fine.  I, on the other hand, didn't fair quite as fantastically.  Sunday was the drive from Avoca to Lawrence and then the flight to Sacramento.  I managed to get a clogged duct and couldn't get it resolved.  As the days went on it got worse and worse.  I spent most of Tuesday uncomfortable and stressing out about getting mastitis in California.  Thankfully, Tuesday night it cleared out and the rest of the trip was just annoying pumping.  I think I'm almost done with pumping . . .

Harper's best quote that I missed:  After searching for and finding a toy that Ryden had relocated, Harper said 'We solved that mystery!'

I got back late Thursday night and drove up early Friday morning to see them.  Then we went to the fair on Friday.  Both of the kids LOVED the animals and Harper had so much fun watching the hog show and the horse show.  I stayed in Avoca two more days (after being there five days and in California for 5 days)  I'm really glad to be home.

Now to get ready for a garage sale Saturday and pack to move in almost two weeks.  Yay.

A little sassy

Harper's new favorite thing to say is 'I told you so'.


It is annoying.


Extremely.


I ask where the tape is she tells me it's on the counter followed by 'I told you so'.


She finishes a puzzle, shows me and says 'I told you so'.


I'm going to lose my mind - - - I told you so.

It's love

So in lieu of losing my mind today - it's been at least 100° for a whole week - we went to the library.  Yesterday we spent our afternoon at the pool, nice and cool.  It is impossible to just go outside when it's this hot.  The park is definitely out of the question with unbearable hot slides.  During the week we go to the library in the morning, nap, and then pool, or they go to daycare and then we go to the pool.


I made sure to hit the library during storytime too.  Harper does great, but Ryden has about a 2 second attention span and is all over the place.  At one point though, he walked over to Harper, stood right in front of her and leaned down to put his wide open mouth on her lips.  They love each other so much, I hope it lasts.

Yawns

Harper has become the yawn police.  I tend to yawn a lot when I'm reading her stories.  Because it's 11 o'clock at night and I want to go to sleep.  Because I don't breathe properly when I'm reading out loud so my body tries to compensate.  Because when I'm reading to her I try to read through the yawns and I'm also hold a book and usually have one arm wrapped around her, so I don't cover my mouth.


Lately she has been telling me every time that I yawn to cover my mouth.  I'm getting a little irritated.  OKAY, I know it's the polite thing to do, but do you have to tell me every time?  This results in her telling me about every minute to cover my mouth and I'm just trying to finish this book so we can read the next ten or so she has picked out for the night before we go to sleep.


Fortunately, she is currently sleeping on the couch.  This means no stories tonight.  Which means no three year old telling me to cover my mouth while I yawn.

Peter Pan

I haven't been keeping up well this summer . . . Mostly because any minute that Ryden is sleeping and I would have a chance, the computer is occupied by Harper playing games and watching videos.


Besides being really into nick jr, Harper is a little over concerned about her shadow.  She constantly needs to know where it is.  If the sun goes under a cloud and her shadow disappears, we have to comment on it (for a while this was a stressful moment that she couldn't find her shadow)  If we're walking and I happen to be standing where her shadow is, it's like it's a part of her.  

"You're stepping on my shadow!"

"Get off my shadow!"

Only Peter Pan is this obsessed with his shadow.

 

On 2 feet

Ryden is almost a full-time walker now.  He will still crawl but has made a huge increase in the amount of time he spends walking. He's also making it a lot farther before falling down, still looks a little like a drunk frat boy most of the time though.

He has not, however, improved his sleeping habits.  Last night he was up every 2 hours . . . I'm tired Ryden, SLEEP.

My 3 year old

Harper and I snuggled on the couch watching Robots (the only movie that we are capable of watching currently).  I said "What would I do without you?"  


"Play by yourself."


I love my 3 year old.

So, her birthday flew by.  We didn't do anything spectacular, she got to take some princess cupcakes to daycare to share on the day and I made her a 3 shirt.  Notice the amazing colors?  Guess who picked out the materials?  It includes neon yellow glow in the dark paint as well.  













Then we had a gathering at Grandma and Grandpa's pond so she got a big cake and some presents there.  I had been planning in my head to have an actual party for her with her friends, but those plans kind of fell apart.  She still had fun and she's doesn't know that we could do something way more awesome than a party at Grandma and Grandpa's (which is kind of awesome, just no friends).

Jana caught a 17" bass with Harper's Barbie fishing
pole.  It pretty much set the standard for all fish
you were supposed to be catching for her.

We didn't get to do it all

We had a fun morning at the public library's kickoff to summer.  They had all sorts of fun games, crafts and food to start the summer reading program.  Harper, as usual, was slow to warm up.  A little bit of pie though and she got more adventurous.

She did some salad spinner art, got a library tattoo and even stood at the mermaid to let me take her picture.  We did the cupcake walk twice and the second time she won a cupcake!

We stood in line forever to get her face painted because she wanted to and it was SO close to her turn she chickened out and didn't want to do it anymore.  She had decided she wanted popcorn (more food of course), but the event was over and there was no more popcorn.  I had to take a sad little girl home.  As I went through ALL the things she had done, she pouted that she didn't get to do anything else.

Oh, yeah, Ryden was there too.  He got pie and fistfull of frosting and squirmed and wiggled and tried to escape.  Towards the end he almost fell asleep but no such luck.

Ryden's week

I discovered three new teeth in Ryden's mouth that weren't there a week ago.  With the one that came in last Friday, that makes four teeth in a week.  Plus getting over hand, foot and mouth, this was a very grumpy week for the kid.

He also started trying to take steps this week so hopefully he will be walking soon!  At some point I realized that he is now 13 months old and should be walking soon.  The last month went so fast.

Hand, foot, mouth

UGH!  Ryden has hand, foot and mouth, yuck!  Harper had it this fall and now Ryden has it.  Supposedly it's going around, I took him to the doctor this afternoon to confirm my diagnosis and he was the third baby with it she had seen today.  It could be worse, but I feel bad, I know that it probably hurts but there's not a lot to do about it.


On a brighter note, he cut another tooth.  That makes 5, it wasn't the one I thought was going to come through next though so hopefully another one will pop through shortly.

A teamh

I'm so lucky that Harper and Ryden get along so well.  There are, of course, times when she gets mad at him or vice versa, but for the most part they get along.  They are becoming friends now, yesterday Harper snuck up on the counter to get some cereal with Ryden in tow.  He just wants to be where she is.  She got her cereal and the first thing she did was give him a piece, like they were a team.

Tough choices

Nate has been gone for a week now.  Ryden doesn't know the difference, but Harper does.  Most of the time she isn't worried about it.  There are times when she asks about him or just mentions him while she's talking.  I'm just not sure how to deal with it.  How do I explain to her that Daddy needs to get help and I can't be responsible for him anymore?  Hopefully someday they will both understand that this decision is what is best for all of us.

Big kids

Last week, Ryden officially started standing on his own.  Every day since then he has gotten better and better.  It is only a matter of time until he starts taking steps from that position.  

My other child, you know Harper, has apparently learned to use the mouse.  We have been trying to get her to figure it out because she likes to play games on the computer, but it was not going well.  Tonight, we were watching Pixar shorts on YouTube and she was running the mouse to pick new videos.  Amazing.

They are both growing up so fast.  I'm so lucky to have such amazing kids.

Looking cute

Cute huh?

I love when little kids dress themselves.  They have no concept of 'fashion' and know that they need to wear something on the bottom and something on the top.  It is however really hard for me to let Harper dress herself some days because I want to pick out the cute outfit for her to wear.


Today she decided she needed to wear her tie-dye shirt because that's what she picked out for Ryden.  Then she picked out 'leggings' for the bottom.  Her leggings are really tights so I told her that she needed to wear a skirt if she was going to wear them.  Fancy skirt picked out.  Then, she saw her pink vest and decided that she forgot it so threw that on to complete the look.


Perhaps the best part was when she finished getting dressed and said 'I'm looking cute'  Really?

The first time she left the house, she was wearing her fancy black heels.  The second time, she was wearing purple swim shoes . . . awesome.

Hot chocolate sunglasses

The shift

At least he's still a snuggle bug.

Yesterday, Ryden was my little baby.  Today he seems so much older.  It's as if overnight, he turned the corner from being baby into being a toddler.


I caught him today standing (on his own power) at the garbage can holding an empty pop can.  Safe huh?  I said 'Ryden put that back' so he put it back, smiled at me and promptly took it back out.  Then all night he continued to let go of whatever he had used to stand up and just stand.  I want him to walk and talk and hit all the fun milestones, but now I'm a little sad about him not being my baby any more.