365 days ago...

Hard to believe that one year ago this is where we were (on our way to the hospital):

And then this:
And also this:

And now we have this:

Birthday!

I remember after taking him home from the hospital I was lying in bed and he was in the bassinet next to me and my heart was racing because I thought, "I would literally die for this child"... ait felt momentous then but the thing is nothing has changed. I still lie in bed and my heart races because I think the same thing every single day.

In any case, happy 1st birthday punkin! My stubborn, adventurous, fearless little stinker who walked before he was 10 months old, who's first word is officially "moose" and who is unbelievably independent but still manages to sneak into bed with me every other night :)

We're Building an Army...

It's 6am and trust me, I'm not up because something exciting is happening. Tooth #14 (one of my molars...I love that they number teeth) is keeping my up for the 1200385th time and it HURTS. Backstory: Tooth #14 got a root canal about 5 years ago....4 years ago it got infected and I had to have some serious surgery on it...On and off until NOW it has hurt, gotten infected, talked smack at me, etc...and then on Monday I had ANOTHER root canal on it, you know, just for funsies. And now it hurts worse than ever. Shoot. I seriously tried to convince the doctor to just pull the sucker out but he said maybe later.

Rant: Over.

Other news! 2 days until Finn's birthday! Remember when I said he wasn't getting anything? I lied. I just dropped some serious cash on some new bigger winter clothes. Plus side: He's going to look adorbs all winter long. He's like a Gap model over here. Down side: Who knows how long it's going to fit him. Sigh. These darn kids always growing outta stuff.

He also got a potty. As a warning of what's to come.

And on a last note, for the party, we've got an army of TARDIS's!

He's so excited :)

If it be now, 'tis not to come...

Not only did I survive the GRE but there is an actual chance that I did ok on the parts I needed to do ok on. Shweet! At the end of the test they give you your range for the math section and verbal section. For the verbal I got between 570-670...good, good. The math? 340-440...ahem....not so good. Which is fine because they don't look at that anyways. 'They' being the elusive yet legendary, bespectacled admissions board...

I'll get the actual scores after two angst-ridden months in November.

On a different stroke, in November we are moving to Springville to be a little closer to Luke's work. I'm excited for two reasons. A. We're closer to Luke's work. Duh and; B. Redecorating! I've got some pretty baller ideas...some from Jenna's sweet website and some from my own little brain. If you're familiar with T.S. Eliot and Shakespeare it's going to be awesome, if not it's going to seem kind of weird.

Por ejemplo: The sign in the kitchen will read "Do I dare to eat a peach?"....the one in Finn's room will read, "Well roared, Lion"....the sign by the door will read, "The readiness is all"...another is, "Fight till the last gasp"

...*crickets*......anyone?....

I think Megan Winegar-Long will like it, at least :)

And on the last and most differentest stroke, Finn's birthday is in 9 days! The party has been planned. The gifts have not been bought (this kid already has everything you could ever want ever), and the only thing left to do is make a bunch of little TARDIS's....trust me, it's gonna be great. The theme is officially and irrevocably Dr. Who visits the dinosaurs (logical because he can time travel in the aforementioned TARDIS...google it). I've bought him an outfit, I've color coordinated stuff, there will be dinos involved. Done and Done.

This is probably the most excited I've been about a party where the person of honor isn't going to even remember it.

Judgement Day

There's a dark cloud hanging over me today. Maybe it's a cloud of shame, guilt, or nervousness. But it's there...

GRE tomorrow and I haven't really studied, like, at all. And as a result I feel guilty, a little bit of shame and definitely nervous. See dark cloud above me for reference.

I keep try to convince myself that I haven't been lazy...it's just that I'm an ENGLISH major! I don't need to study because I don't need to do the math section! Makes sense, right? Right?!

And then I use Finn as an excuse, because how could I possibly study with a baby around?! Don't mention the fact that said baby naps for 2+ hours a day and goes to bed at 730....not my best material as far as excuses go.

But yeah, definitely not lazy.

So strategy wise, I'm planning on going in to the testing center and crumpling under a desk in defeat before I start and then just look at the questions and guess like I have never guessed before in my life...except for the time I took the SAT...didn't study for that either. Boo ya!

But really, while I haven't studied a whole lot I still think I'm going to fare just fine because I'm confident in my scholastic abilities. Fingers crossed, wish me luck, break a leg and all that.

Taking the GRE is like being in a desert....because you're not allowed to take water in with you and you're bound to get pretty thirsty.

And the Snot Runneth Over...

That time of year again...

You know, where tissues and "snot rags", (aka the burp cloth I use to wipe Finn's face), take over the house.

I'm blaming Finn because he got sick first. Just a cold, mind you...but a messy one. Preceded by vomiting and then combined with all the drool....not pretty, people. Not pretty.

(This cold also makes our sleeping situation kind of complicated. Because Finn's nose gets all stuffed up at night I let him sleep in our bed for a little bit, propped up on a pillow and all, until he clears up. But he is a mega bed hog (on my side of the bed at least) and I end up sleeping somewhere near the end of the bed and Luke....to avoid the crater on his side of the bed... has taken to sleeping on the floor. So now you can imagine a small child who basically has a whole California king bed to himself. Jeez.)

And now, I've got a cold, too....minus the drool and snot all over my face. Thankfully, I know how to blow my nose. And soon Luke will, too because that's how it works 'round here.

Thankfully we're functioning sick people, which means I'm not sequestered to the house all day and I can spread my germs to everybody! Everybody!

You're welcome :)

Other than that disgusting update, Dr. Who premiere tomorrah! (Laura, no spoilers!)...it's like my birthday and Christmas combined only better because there is pizza, wings, and possibly Rubio's involved. And Matt Smith...mmmm, Matt Smith.

Side note: Finn's party is no longer Dr. Who themed....$25 for a pack of EIGHT Dr. Who plates and same with the napkins....we're going dinosaur thank you very much.

In lieu of a snot-covered Finn picture, I'll leave it at this:

Dr. Who...that is all.

Waylaid...

Hey blog, it's been awhile.

Don't blame me, summer really is a busy time. We've got things to do, people to see...all that.

Plus, I have a new blog project in the works...and blogject if you will. Which is consuming a lot of my extra time. This blogject will be revealed once some actual progress has been made. It has something to do with writing. And possibly postmodernism. Aren't you excited??!

In any case, we made it home from California and the return trip went much smoother than the arrival trip. No dropping things, no running out of time to change diapers, happy baby, all that. By the end of the plane ride, Finn was flirting so much with the stewardess and neighbors that I felt less like his mom and more like his wingman.

Speaking of the little monster...he is 11 months old today!!!!! One more month 'till the big PARTAY!!! It is tentatively robot themed. You'll all be receiving a personal, hand written, invitation in your mailbox. Finn will be hand-writing these invitations, soooo good luck deciphering that.

New developments, you ask? He's now got FIVE teeth. They just started sproutin' like weeds. Thankfully he took it pretty well.

What he didn't take well was tripping HARD and landing on the baby gate that I didn't put away, busting his lips AND gums open. There was blood. Lots of it. And then there was the few hours after the incident where he couldn't have a pacifier. Scary times (P.s. There is, apparently, a window of opportunity between 9 and 10 months where you are supposed get rid of the pacifier lest they have it for, basically, their whole life. We missed that window). But he's all better now :)

Also, the kid is getting kind of an attitude. If you're not me (which I hope you're not) you'd think he's the sweetest thing to step foot on this planet. He bats his eyelids, waves, smiles all that cute stuff.

But of course when I'm with him alone its all, "noooooo, I'm not going to eat that!" and "I want to eat your phoooone! Give iiiiit!" and "I'm never taking a nap so long as you're here!"

Now the truth is out there.

But really, 95% of the time he's very amenable to the things I have to say. He might even agree with me on occasion. Maybe.

And last but not least, he's wogging. It's a combination of walking and jogging. He doesn't have his running stride down yet, but he's definitely walking really fast. Hence, wogging. Much of the time (though increasingly less and less) it ends with him splatting somewhere. Splatting=another good word of mine. I'm pioneering vocabulary like Shakespeare. Shakespeare!

So grown up :)

Looks Like We Made It...

...thanks for the intro, Barry Manilow!

We made it to California. Boo ya! It was Finn's 5th time on an airplane but alas, it was the first time it was just me and him. Together. By ourselves. Alone.

It was stressful but the good thing about it is when people see someone struggling (and by struggling, I mean dropping bags, car seats, bottles and blankets simultaneously while chasing after an escapist 10 month old) they tend to help out a bit. Which is always awkward when people are picking up your stuff, but whatevs.

(On a side note, I got a Petunia Picklebottom bag specifically for this trip thinking it would be great for travel but it really wasn't. It was so bulky I couldn't get anything out of it on the plane which made both me and Finn very sad. I'm sticking to my Storksak thank ya vary mach.)

Thankfully, Finn is the biggest shmoozer to ever grace an airport. He bats his little eyelids, waves, claps, whatever it takes for people to oooh and aaaaw over him and therefore notice my plight.

And then there was the guy standing next to me with his little boy at the boarding gate going, "My kid is just so....awesome...I mean really just....awesome!" That's verbatim, FYI. Gotta love airports.

All struggle-age aside, we're here and Finn's having a total blast. Naps go out the window when there is an un-babyproofed house to explore. The excitement of new territories to explore just overwhelms the little guy with happiness until he's red in the face. This could get dangerous.

Danger being added by the fact that crawling has gone out the window. Walking is his new thang. Crawling is sooo two weeks ago. He won't do it. At all. Just walks. Or expects me to carry him (I'm not immune to his shmoozing yet, apparently). I'm ok with it though, because I can now justify buying shoes for him. Cute, little person shoes!

He's also got TWO bottom teeth coming in which brings his total net tooth count up to a big ol' whopping three.

Dental developments aside, this week is guaranteed to be frantastic because we're going swimming (I had to buy him a bigger bathing suit in size 2T!!!) and other stuff like that.