Verbally Challenged

I’m thinking of renaming my boy, what do you think? Today he never got into a deep sleep. Ever. And he didn’t want to be put down…at all. Now that would be lovely if I could curl up on the couch and cuddle with him…maybe catch a nap myself. But I have the little Miss needing attention as well. So I did what any parent needing to stay sane would do, plopped him in my carrier (photo coming soon). And off we played for the day. And when that doesn’t work, we resort to this:

As long as the car is moving, he’s sleeping, so we drive. I love my van…my big mom van. The baby boy sleeps, the little gal reads her books and I get QUIET! It’s a big win for me…at least until the car stops.

Hello productivity! I think that I’m finally sick of myself! HA! And I have a little bit of Oprah to thank (go figure). If you don’t watch Oprah (and I never do so perhaps it was meant to be) they’re doing a “Clean up your messy house tour.” They’re totally speaking to me! And they’re going to random houses, knocking on doors and helping people declutter. Now granted, my mom had this idea when I was pregnant, coming over once a week to help me out (mom they stole your idea), keep me on track and it was awesome – but I still have more to do. And it’s getting to me…again. I think too that the crap weather outside and an adorable newborn keeping me indoors isn’t helping much either. But the newborn IS staying healthy. I digress.

If you plan on visiting me, I need at least 3 weeks notice to clean up my house. Not. Kidding.

Unless you like seeing piles up stuff everywhere. Then you can give me a week.

Have I mentioned that I’ve been deleting my FlyLady emails since having Finn? I just don’t want to hear it…er…read it. But it does work and I plan on not deleting them again some day when the kids are grown and in college. Or maybe by then I’ll just package all of the crap up and send it with them.

But since 3:00pm yesterday I’ve managed to:
Clean out 2 closets
Clean and organize the mail area (I tried a filing system and it failed) – how do you all organize your mail WELL so that it doesn’t pile up on the counter
Clean and de-clutter two bathrooms (ran bath toys through the dishwasher too)
Pick-up the boys room…again
Clean, fold and put away laundry (can you tell which one I can’t stand)

And it’s 10:00am.

Honestly, the bathrooms took 15 minutes and look (and feel) world’s better. I need to keep that in mind.

It only takes a few minutes.

Remind me of that the next time I complain of my walls closing in on me.

That’ll probably be tomorrow.

February is one of the hardest months to deal with. I’m over winter…heck…I’m over winter the day after Christmas and by then it’s really just getting started. The snow is no longer pretty because it’s mixed with mud. The temperature fluctuations lead to ice. Serious cabin fever kicks in. The germs continue multiplying, growing stronger and more contagious by the minute.

Add in the occasional warm day teaser and yeah, February is annoying.

Last night I let the dogs out and commented on how pleasant the temperature was (perhaps I should have knocked on something there). I mentally planned to take the kids out for a little walk today, run some errands – be productive! And today I wake up to a coating of white stuff and call me crazy but I’m guessing that temperature is no longer pleasant.

So today we’re staying home and dressing warm. I took this photo weeks ago but it’s perfectly fitting today.

What’s warmer than a Finner in wool?

This is what I’ve heard all morning:

“Addy…Addy…Addy….Adddddddddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!”

And then some whining and crying because she can’t do something.

Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.

My little girl is mastering her mother hen skills. Today, she has been demanding Liam give her his hand so that she could lead him around the room like a lost puppy. Or lead him over to the hearth where she demands he sit next to her. And when he jumps up and runs away because his attention span it that of a flea (a brilliant and very handsome flea) – she yells “hey”, and “no” and shouts “sit down wee-am.” And just today, for the first time ever, she threw her arm out in front of her, and motioned with her little pointer to come back over to her.

Where ever does she learn this stuff! And will it only get worse?

I’m doing a combo post today…just because I have two hands to type and that is a rarity these days. I’m a day late already with the two month post and need to get a better photo of the little dude by himself. But that too takes time, two hands, and some editing. I’ll get there. At least I have photos to post in the meantime. Like this one:

I call it lucky. I was trying to catch Finn’s sweet little smile when Liam came over and wanted to give him a little hug and kiss. Well heck, I was already shooting wide open and you can’t mess with six year old spontaneity so I kept shooting and didn’t take time to fix my camera settings (or the composition because then I’d have to alter focal points). So I got this at 1.8…crazy. The other miracle, a non-staged photo of them together.

The funny thing, it looks a lot like this one taken 2 years ago:

Addy was 4-5 months old in that one but I definitely see more similarities in my babies. I love that.

So at two months Finn:
-Smiles (not regularly yet but we can get them if we work hard enough)
-Eats a lot (1.5-3 hours still)
-Sleeps when he wants (usually during the night with feeding breaks but we’re no where near perfect) – and day naps
-Outgrew his preemie/newborn sleepers
-Stares at lights
-Complains when he’s tired and needs help falling asleep
-Loves pacing with daddy

I took this photo primarily for my uncle…who is a deer hunter. I don’t like deer hunting – especially in my neighborhood since I enjoy watching them in our yard (even if they are eating the apples from our trees). I count the babies and watch them grow. I recognize and follow the antlers on the different males. I get attached. And the thought of them getting an arrow through their jugular or a bullet in their heart makes me sad. So hunting, not something that I personally like.

And if you can’t tell, her little shirt says “too cute to shoot” and there is a little deer off to the side. I needed the shirt as soon as I saw it.

And don’t worry, she won’t be wearing all of my beliefs. I mean…we’ll leave the “meat is murder” shirt for Liam.

Lots of smiles in the K household recently. Just yesterday, the newest member sported a smile that wasn’t related to the release of gas from his little tushie. Mommy was acting goofy, talking like a chipmunk and out it came – the most adorable little newborn open mouthed gummy chubby smile. And my heart melted all over again.

And then he looked to my right at the picture of a rooster hanging on my wall (I promise you it’s a cooler picture than what you’re thinking) and smiled again. At the rooster.

But he smiled at ME first!!!

So I went to grab the camera and speedlight because it was 5 and the light was not there. I got it set up and tried to capture it to share with daddy and Liam (who is DYING to see a smile) and didn’t get much. He smiled once, but I caught the tail end of it. I’ll share that photo later when I dump my camera.

But it was an exciting day.

On Friday I mentioned doing a little photo shoot with the kiddos. I wanted some of me with Finn and took advantage of liam being home from school. He really did have fun pushing the button though. But the kids, oh my, they performed! Addy loved being in her dress and wearing shoes in the house (that’s a no no for us) – oh and the flower in her hair. She’s such a girl in that respect.

I snapped that photo right before she busted out some dance moves…like the elmo soup dance. I hope to capture that on video sometime soon because it’s super cute. Especially since she shakes her rear and when wearing a cloth diaper (hello padding) it’s extra cute!

And then it was Liam’s turn…but the little miss wasn’t done. She plopped down next to Liam, which he thought was hilarious, and we got some of them together (again, rare). I have others to edit but here is one:

And then it was Liam alone and I was able to snap this one off before he stuck his tongue out at me:

And proceeded to make a lot of other little boy faces that only a mother could love.

But this face was pretty cute and I had some fun with the editing:

I still can’t believe that they were all smiles and cooperated so well. I won’t have a day like that for at least another year!

Some day I’ll be posting artwork again…or at least something creative that I either glued or sewed. But right now the time is just not there, and neither is my mind. I want to do things but not in five minute intervals over a weeks time. That doesn’t work for me. And then there is the guilt. If I even walk into my studio, which needs cleaned something terrible, I think about the piles elsewhere in the house that I really should sort through. Or the drawers in my little gals room that need straightened so that we can break out of the two outfit rotation. Or the laundry that seems to multiply overnight – either that or my sons changes his underwear 12 times a day. The studio can always wait.

So lately I’ve been channeling my creative energy into photography (no surprise there). And I’m able to justify it because the kids are involved. Yesterday, I pulled out the camera and we all took photos. Addy is turning into a natural and is happy to takes photos as long as I give her a “pretty dress.” But I’m still editing those and will share them tomorrow, maybe.

For now, I have two photos of me. I never share photos of me because I never take photos of me. I’m working on changing that – a New Year’s Resolution maybe…but not really because I don’t really like them. Liam was home sick from school on Friday so he was able to work the camera (aka push the button while on the tripod).

So here is me and my new boy:

More creativity to follow…in some form.

Apparently this is what happens when mom and Liam head off to piano practice. Had I known, I’d have fixed the poor gals hair. Please excuse the bedhead!

Spanning Time from nathan kress on Vimeo.