Picture-y pictures

A few pictures from this summer:

Finn makes this face. A lot. Usually in conjunction with his favorite phrase "Whatchoo want?"

We had to start buying mini-marshmallows because he likes to cram two or three big ones in his mouth at a time. It'd be one thing if I could get him to say Pudgy Bunny, but nothin' doin'.

We took an impromptu trip to the zoo with Nana. Really impromptu. We were supposed to just be going to the park.

And I've been watching this gorgeous little ginger, my friend Bethany's son, this past month. Finn can't quite decide if they're friends or archenemies. He's always very excited when he wakes up, exclaiming "Harper's comin'! Harper be here soon!"  But once Harper is actually here, things can go either way. Some days they get along fabulously, and others I have to keep them separated in different rooms. They're both pretty scrappy fighters.

I'm having a baby, my baby and me.

Well, I've put this off long enough I suppose. Here it goes.

I'm currently 13 weeks pregnant.

Some of you might recall that Finn's birth was, let's just say, a less than ideal delivery. You may have heard it straight from me. You may have read it here or elsewhere. It left me with some serious emotional scars, and no matter how much I want to remember the day my little man was born as a happy one, I can't.  So, it's no surprise that when we started thinking about having a second child, I wanted to plan for a completely different scenario. And when I discovered I was pregnant and had the appointment to confirm the pregnancy, you can imagine my horror when the following transpired:

Nurse:  So, are you planning on having a scheduled c-section or on having a vaginal birth?

Me: Well, my son was born via emergency c-section but I've been planning on a VBAC for this one.

Nurse: Oh, that's not going to happen.

Me: (Now in tears) Excuse me?

Nurse: Well, I don't know who you're planning on seeing, but the doctor that works with our office absolutely will not let you attempt that. And I'm certain that the doctors that deliver at Butler won't let you either. They'd be crazy to. There's just too much risk.

Me:  (sobbing) Are you kidding me?!

Nurse: Was the problem that you were tired afterwards? Because with scheduled surgery you won't be tired.

Me: (jaw on the floor) Of course I was tired! I just had a freaking baby! Being tired was NOT the problem!

I exited shortly thereafter completely unsure of what to do. I was hysterical. I was furious. And I couldn't even call my mom to vent because we hadn't told anyone yet.  Adding to the frustration was having to deal with sorting out insurance and figuring out which doctor's office I could actually use. Butler County is insanely complicated with this and it took 4 weeks to get coverage and book an appointment.  And this appointment was just to fill out an hour and half of paperwork and to have some initial bloodwork done. Luckily, the nurse I had at the maternal services office was an angel. She took weeks of fretting and anxiety off of my mind by informing me that the nurse at family planning was full of bullshit. That their office would actually encourage me to attempt the VBAC, not tell me I was crazy and book the operating room for the day I hit 38 weeks.  Of course, more sobbing ensued (I'm an emotional pregnant lady). And I somehow managed to restrain myself from hugging Jan-the-best-nurse-in-the-world.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm fully aware that babies have their own plan. That no matter how much I "plan" for his or her birth, things can quickly change.  But, I also know that Finn's birth taught me to be more assertive with voicing my needs and wants regarding my medical care during labor. To not get mowed over by medical staff and pushy, jagoff doctors. I'm also looking forward to having the support of  Amy, a doula that I met though Finn's playgroup. I think having her there will also be a huge help to Steve who I think was very overwhelmed last time by my mom and the staff.  I remember looking over at him and seeing him with this startled, blank look on his face a lot. Luckily, he came to his senses when we were in the OR together and was leaps and bounds ahead of me in the sanity department by then.

So, here's hoping that this time around, things go a little better.

Hiker's high

Over Memorial Day weekend Steve and I dropped Finn off with Pap and went on a mini-date to McConnell's Mill. Somehow in the nearly four years we've been together I'd failed to take him to our biggest local tourist spot. Clearly this had to be fixed. We had an excellent time, hiked more than we planned, and vowed to do it again. I haven't been hiking in years, and I got such a buzz from just our short little hike that day. It felt so amazing.
So this past Sunday we went back again, with our friend Jeb in tow, to hike the entire 7 mile Slippery Rock Gorge trail. The previous time we'd hiked a bit of the Hell's Hollow portion at one end and the Kildoo Pass loop that hooks onto the other end, so we had no idea what was in store for us in between. This is what was what we found:

We interrupted a lanky blue heron's breakfast.

We pondered whether or not this was the spot a hiker died last month.

The boys decided to investigate. (and finding bits of crime scene tape on the way up did not deter their climbing)

Finally at the top and deciding that, yes, indeed someone died here.

After 3 miles we stopped for lunch and to clean ourselves of the layer of mud encrusting us from the knees down.

And I looked sweaty and happy.

I wish I had pictures from the last half of the hike. I really do. But that trail kicked my ass so much that my hands would not have functioned properly. Which is a pity, because we had great fun pretending we were on  a Goonies-style adventure (with all the mud, ravines and waterfalls it wasn't hard). And we took a most excellent side trip into Hell's Basin for some wading and splashing. It all ended at Hell's Hollow Falls where I could have happily spent the rest of the day, splashing in the cold knee-deep water (which worked wonders towards numbing my feet.) 

Definitely a trip to be repeated.

Update: Part the second.

So we returned safely from our Canadian adventures to a garden that desperately needed some planting. Steve had tilled it up before we left, but that's about as far as we had gotten. I planted a mesclun mix near the back door for easy salad pickins and those shot right up:

But the actual garden needed a bit more work. We expanded on last years plot and threw in some new crops as well. Our lovely raised beds now include: Bibb lettuce, Bright Lights swiss chard (which is gorgeous), Deep Purple and Nantes carrots, Amish Paste, Jet Star, Summer Taste, Big Boy , Sun Gold 100 and Brandywine tomatoes, Sweet Chocolate and Wisconsin Bay Sweet peppers, Cyclops (because how could we refuse a pepper called Cyclops), Hungarian Wax, and Tequila Sunrise hot peppers, some jalapenos, Walla Walla and some random red sweet onions, cucumbers, sugar snap peas, green beans, one zucchini (that will still produce more squash than any family can eat) and four rows of corn. Plus a separate bed of nasturtium, dill, parsley, and cilantro.

I should note that the plant pictures are now a month old and oh, how they've grown. The corn which was just starting to sprout in the above picture is now nearly knee high. And the swiss chard is now lovely and crunchy. Seeing the bright shoots of color in a salad is fantastic.

And what has our darling son been up to? Funny you should ask.

He's helped in the garden and met some new friends.

He's been really excited about bathing.

He attempted to hone his hockey skills. (He has none yet.)

He did his best to look innocent.

He finally got his new bed/fort. Sleeping is much improved for everyone.

He fell in love with the park.

And he's spent a lot of time not wearing pants.

Procrastination

The longer I put off updating this darn thing, the harder it gets to do so.  So much has happened in the past few months. I swear we did more in the past two months than we did in the whole of last year. I'm gonna hit the highlights here in an attempt to catch up.

Firstly, in mid-April we ventured sans toddler to the suburbs of Buffalo, NY to see our amazing friends Kent and Paula tie the knot. I had the privilege of being the photographer for the big day and let me just say, it was a blast to shoot. So many awesome shots from that day. I had so much fun and I know Steve did too.

The day after the wedding we migrated north to Niagara:

before heading to our final destination of Toronto. Steve and I share an enormous love of Toronto. And judging by how most of our trip was spent, we also share a large love of food.

We started our first evening there with dinner at Sneaky D's where we met up with some yummy nachos and my favorite little lady in the world, Martini.

The next day Steve and I wandered through Chinatown and grabbed some grub at a Szechuan place that we'd heard great things about. I was a bit disappointed in my dish, but Steve's chicken with garlic and chilies was delectable and I could have drank a gallon of their hot and sour soup.

We did some more wandering around after I bought more pastry tips and chopsticks than I will ever use and ended up in Kensington market. After a couple of hours there we were hungry again. How, I'm not sure. And it just so happened that Steve's food nirvana was on the next block. Jumbo Empanadas.

I restrained myself and just had a mini chicken empanada and a cheese one.  Steve, as you can see did not.

Later on, Kent and Paula arrived to join us in our food adventure.

We ended up at some crazy Japanese tapas place for dinner and then after a disappointing attempt at late night entertainment, we had drinks and snacks at Sneaky D's before crashing back at the hotel.

The next day was my birthday! Hooray! We spent it shopping, sightseeing and of course, took Kent and Paula to Jumbo Empanadas. Steve consumed more food than I have ever seen a human eat in one sitting. Later on we all got gussied up and headed out to Trimurti for my birthday celebration. We were joined by aforementioned favorite little lady, Martini, and a close second in the race for favorite Canadian, Karen.

The night ended way too soon. I miss those gals so much already. With any luck, Martini will be spending a bit of time at our place this summer, so I'm looking forward to that.

The next day, we packed up early and headed home. The looooong drive home. While it had been pretty darn nice to spend some adults-only time, I missed Finn like crazy. Next time we head north, he'll definitely be coming with us.

This entry has ran long enough. More in the next update!

A few pictures from around the yard:

Words can not express how giddy I was when I saw this bleeding heart sprouting up by the garage. I purchased it on clearance at our weird local hardware store last year on a whim, thinking it would never grow. Not that it had a chance to, since Steve mowed it over with the weed whacker. But, lo and behold, I saw little purple shoots springing up a last week and it popped up super fast. It's still tiny (maybe 5 inches high), but it surprised me even more when I checked it out yesterday and saw:

It had started blooming! Woah! The hearts are miniscule, which just adds to their adorableness.

Cursed ferns. I hate these things. They're in a bed filled with cacti on the edge of the driveway. Apparently the family who rented this place before us for 16 years were obsessed with Southwestern/Native american culture and decor. And landscaping. It's terrible.

The snowdrops finally sprang up. They need to be on their game a little better next year.

If you look closely you can see Finn off in the distance. He likes to stand by the pine trees and taunt the cows next door. He wiggles his bum and yells "MOOO! MOOOO!" Sometimes I worry about him.

I'm taking a litte break right now from the pre-vacation hustle. We're leaving bright and early tomorrow to drop Finn off at Nana and Pap's and then heading to Buffalo from there. Part of me is sad we're not bringing him with us, but the other bit of me is overcome with excitement at the thought of four nights of sleep. Plus, I think making small children have a passport is ridiculous, so seeing as he'd need one for the second bit of our trip, he'll be staying behind this time. How in the world do you get a two-year old to sit still for a passport photo, anyways?

Okay, break time over. I still have a few things to pack and dinner to finish up. Updates later next week, with tons of pictures.

Bedspring time

Hallelujah! The worst is over, the storms have cleared, and all is right with the world. Finn is sleeping through the night again.  Praise Ikea. 

About two months ago, Finn started getting really, really bad about sleeping. He was up more than he was when he was a few months old and nursing constanly through the night (gotta love growth spurts). First we'd have an hour long struggle to go to bed. Screaming, kicking, all-out battles. He'd be so tired that he would have his eyes closed and be half asleep while throwing punches.  Then he'd be up around midnight. He'd get changed, snuggled and back to sleep he'd go. Then at 2 he'd be up again, wandering into our room. We'd try to put him back in his bed and all hell would break loose. He'd scream. He'd cry. He'd tense up so much he'd shake like a leaf. He'd yell "Big bed! Big bed! Sleep in the big bed!" until we'd cave and tuck him in with us. Unfortunately, he didn't want US in the big bed with him. He'd flip and flop and kick and hit until one or both of us ended up on the floor, the couch or in the spare bed. And after all of this, he'd still wake up at 5:30, still tired but refusing to go back to sleep anywhere.  Needless to say, we've all been exhausted.

We'd been thinking of getting him a twin bed for awhile now, but this sleep mutiny gave us the push to actually do it. With the grandparents chipping in, we headed to Ikea this past Saturday to get this child a big boy bed of his own. I'll skip the details, because I'll just end up more peeved. They didn't have the bed that we drove two hours to get. They refused to sell us the floor model. They wouldn't ship one from another store. They can't tell us when they'll be getting more of them in. They were completely rude and gave us just about the worst customer service ever.  Ugh.  Anyway, we left there with everything but a bed frame and a ridiculously tired toddler (we had decided to push naptime back a bit not realizing that A) he wouldn't catnap on the ride down and B) that we'd be there for several hours dealing with completely unreasonable people). Once we got home, I set to disassembling his toddler bed, which he found quite entertaining, and hemmed the curtains to the right length. His new room looks pretty darn nice. I imagine it will look even better once we have a bed frame, but for now he's enjoying the mattress on the floor.

And his sleeping....oh, it's so much better. He doesn't even fight going to bed now. He happily marches in and snuggles down in bed. He asks "Mommy, stay here?" and I agree and snuggle with him for a few minutes before he drops right off.  He's been waking just to get changed in the middle of the night, but he doesn't come wandering into our room and he goes right back to sleep. And best of all, he's been sleeping in. Okay, I know most people don't consider 7 a.m. to be "sleeping in", but when your toddler usually wakes up at 5:30, 7 seems like a godsend.   It's pretty darn miraculous, really.

And now for a few extra pictures from our lovely spring weather:

Figures the first seeds to sprout would be the hollyhocks that Steve picked out. You know, the flowers that won't bloom until next year. :eye roll:

"'Laxin" is his new thing. He'll plop down in a chair and grab his drink and say "Oh, I'm 'laxin. Ahhhhh!"

A stress filled Easter with a teething toddler. Holidays should not be this hard. Seriously.

And the first of the yellow plague, I mean, daffodils. They actually beat the snowdrops this year, which is unheard of.