it's the little things...

today's snapshot...seeing double

2012-02-01T14:12:00.002-05:00

Callan is screaming, "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!" in this picture.

today's snapshot...the best hand-me-down Callan's ever received

2012-01-31T15:25:00.001-05:00

today's snapshot...static

2012-01-30T09:36:00.000-05:00

painting

2012-01-27T10:46:00.000-05:00

I saw this post on my friend's blog the other day, which inspired me to do the car painting with my kids, too. They loved it! Some finger paints, a large piece of blank newspaper print, some toy cars.....and the kids went to town!

Then the next day I happened to read about another painting idea...painting in bags! The best part about it is it's not messy at all. I squirted some finger paints into a freezer baggie, gave the kids some cars and other blocks to "draw" with, and they had a great time mushing the colors together in the baggie. Callan liked "writing" his name with the wooden block.

today's snapshot...1st pedicure

2012-01-27T10:23:00.003-05:00

foot massage

2012-01-22T20:46:00.000-05:00

Finn was holding hands with his girl friend, Adrienne...

but that quickly turned into Finn massaging her feet for her. The girl has got her priorities straight already!

daddy's girl

2012-01-22T20:41:00.003-05:00

today's snapshot...jamming out on our "drums"

2012-01-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

Not a very good picture, but at least I got a picture showing that I am an actual person...not just someone behind the camera.

today's snapshot...waiting for the garbage truck

2012-01-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

behind closed doors

2012-01-20T22:49:00.000-05:00

The kids were quiet. I went looking for them because quiet sometimes equals trouble. I made a beeline for the playroom, and I found this...closed doors.

But when I opened the doors I found this....two kids quietly playing underneath the table.

I guess sometimes two quiet kids is just that...two quiet kids! Imagine that.

today's snapshot...homemade gnocchi

2012-01-20T09:42:00.001-05:00

mr. rogers would be proud

2012-01-09T16:02:00.001-05:00

I've been wanting to teach Callan our address, so for a few days now we've been constructing a little mock up of our neighborhood using toilet paper rolls as townhouses and a piece of cardboard covered in black construction paper. We put colored paper around his friends' houses, and I helped him write their names on them. Then we wrote the house numbers and road using chalk.

today's snapshot...three peas in a pod

2012-01-09T15:54:00.002-05:00

future BU graduate

2012-01-09T15:53:00.002-05:00

today's snapshot...ma, me, sis and pa

2012-01-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

2011 ornaments

2012-01-07T22:40:00.002-05:00

One Christmas tradition that our family enjoys is getting an ornament that represents each person for that year. This year we got Callan a Mario figurine because of his Mario Wii obsession, Kinsley a cookie monster figurine because of her Sesame Street obsession, and Fintan a Finn McMissile car from the movie Cars 2 (which came out this year) because he's a 4-month old and doesn't have any obsessions yet. Gene got me a little moccasin because he's become obsessed with Native American culture lately and refers to me as his Little Indian Princess (he likes to play this one "Little Indian Princess" song he found). I got him a toucan because we started our Etsy business this year, Toucan Tango Designs.

(Callan wanted his Mario hung right next to Cookie Monster.)

Our tree wasn't anything special this year. We kind of threw it together quickly. The lights were falling off the bottom, and I threw a few red balls on the tree one afternoon because I thought it needed some punches of color. Kind of pathetic. I already have plans for next year's tree, though. Yes, that's right. It's January and I am already mentally planning for December. I can't wait.

today's snapshot...potty training sticker chart

2012-01-07T21:05:00.001-05:00

While we potty trained Kinsley last weekend, we had a sticker chart taped up on the bathroom door. Callan wanted a sticker chart like Kinsley's, so Gene taped one up for him, too. After the intense three-day-potty-training with Kins, this is what the two charts looked like. In Callan's words, "Man! Kinsley's beating me by a lot! She almost has her chart filled up!" It was so funny to hear him say that in person....like he just couldn't believe that someone could actually go pee that many times in three days.

That's the difference between a kid who has control over their bladder and one who does not.

today's snapshot...snack time on the potty

2012-01-04T07:46:00.000-05:00

back to only having one in diapers again

2012-01-04T07:42:00.000-05:00

After three days of potty training, Kinsley now declares, "Mommy, you stay out. I go potty by myself."

Easiest potty training yet! (Granted I've only potty trained two kids so far.) But she only had a handful of accidents, none of which were on the carpet! She wakes up dry from her naps and is only wetting the bed once or so at night. Like I said before, I highly recommend the Three Day Potty Training Method.

today's snapshot...Christmas 2011 with my Love

2012-01-03T10:32:00.001-05:00

dinner time

2012-01-03T10:29:00.001-05:00

Since we are potty training Kinsley right now, dinner time last night went something like this...

All 5 of us gather in the kitchen for dinner. Finn is in his swing, content and smiling. The four of us start dinner:

Kins: I need to go potty.

Gene: Ok. I'll take you.

(They return and the 4 of us continue eating.)

Kins: I need to go potty.

Renee: Ok. I'll take you.

(She ends up not having to go, and we return back to the table.)

Kins: I need to go potty.

Renee: No, we just went down and you didn't go.

Kins: I need to go!!!

(I take her down, she doesn't go AGAIN and we return to the table.)

We all continue eating for a minute or two. Fintan starts crying.

Kins: I need to go potty!

Gene: I'll take her.

Callan: I have to go potty, too!

Renee: Callan, go upstairs to Mommy's bathroom because Daddy has Kinsley downstairs.

(I'm holding Finn right now, trying to finish my cold dinner. I already heated it up once. No use doing it again. I hear Gene in the hallway...."I'm taking Kinsley upstairs for her bath now since she's already naked from going to the bathroom. Callan, you come, too.")

Renee: No! Tell Callan to come back here because he still needs to finish his dinner.

A minute later a naked Callan shows up beside me in the kitchen.

Callan: Daddy told me to come down here to eat.

For the next 5 minutes I spoon-feed Callan the rest of his vegetables while he stands naked beside me. Gene and Kinsley are upstairs starting bathtime already. All the while I'm still holding Finn who needs fed. I try to shovel in the last few bites of my cold food. Callan runs upstairs naked, ready for his bath now. I stand up with Finn, looking around at the messy kitchen with the half-eaten plates of cold food.

That's dinner time with three kids ages three and under.

today's snapshot...christmas at nana & grandpa's

2011-12-28T22:20:00.003-05:00

life-size coloring

2011-12-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

How do you keep two kids busy while you cook dinner? You trace their bodies onto large blank newspaper and let them color "themselves." It was a huge hit.

today's snapshot...to Daddy, from Callan

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

C, K, F

2011-12-23T21:58:00.001-05:00

All the gifts are marked with black "C's", yellow "K's" and blue "F's" and are ready to be torn into tomorrow morning. We're having our Christmas as a family tomorrow morning before heading to PA to see family.

caps vs preds

2011-12-23T21:52:00.000-05:00

Gene's co-worker got 16 free tickets to the CAPS vs PREDS hockey game the other night. We got to go along with some of his co-workers and their spouses. The seats were in a suite, so we had a little room all to ourselves. Gene requested tickets to this game since his Predators only come to DC once every other year (until next year when the hockey schedule changes). Unfortunately the Preds lost this game, but it was still fun to watch a game live. It's one of my favorite sports to watch live. So much action happening!

today's snapshot...pigtails and ponytails

2011-12-23T21:45:00.003-05:00

the weather

2011-12-21T20:00:00.002-05:00

(a conversation while driving to the store today...)

Callan: Mommy, why is it raining today?

Me: I guess God wanted it to rain today. He's in charge of the weather. I wish all this rain was snow! That would be fun!

(a little while later, driving back from the store...)

Callan: Why did it stop raining, Mommy?

Me: I guess God wanted it to stop raining.

Callan: I want God to send snow to my house.

our little chunker

2011-12-19T20:44:00.000-05:00

Finn finally had his 4 month appointment today. Kinsley also had her 2 year appointment. They are both in the 90th percentile for height. Guess we produce tall little kiddos.

We often get comments like, "Finn is how old?" because he looks like he's 9 months but is really only 4. He's quickly growing out of his 6 month clothes and is comfortably wearing all of Callan's 9 month hand-me-downs. Here are also some interesting comparisons:

1 MONTH OLD:

Callan = 9lb 1oz

Kinsley = 9lb 15oz

Fintan = 10 lb 4oz

2 MONTHS OLD:

Callan = 11lb 1oz

Kinsley = 11lb 10oz

Fintan = 13lb

4 MONTHS OLD:

Callan = 13lb 14oz

Kinsley = 14lb 5oz

Fintan = 16lb 6oz

6 MONTHS OLD:

Callan = 16lb 4oz

Kinsley = 16lb 5oz

Fintan = ????

As you can see, it's no wonder Fintan is wearing 9 month clothes. At 4 months old, he's bigger than Callan and Kinsley were when they were 6 months old!

today's snapshot...drew & finn (best buds)

2011-12-19T09:28:00.002-05:00

2 going on 12

2011-12-19T09:26:00.002-05:00

I have a 2 year old who is going on 12. Her vocabulary has skyrocketed lately. Here are a few conversations:

Me: It sounds like you are enjoying your hot chocolate from all the Mmmm sounds that I'm hearing!

K: Mommy, it's delicious!

--------------------------

The other day Gene said he was in the car with her and they passed by the huge Christmas tree that's lit up in our town. He said Kinsley commented on how HUMONGOUS it was.

--------------------------

Me: Did Daddy bring home a new book for you from school?

Callan: Yes. Here it is.

Kinsley: No, he brought it from the library, Mommy. (and she said "library" with perfect pronunciation, too....which is a hard word to say!)

blind

2011-12-18T13:26:00.000-05:00

The kids love watching their "Jesus video" that their cousins introduced them to. They quote from it often...

Me: Callan, don't poke your sister in her eye. She doesn't like that, and you could really hurt her eye. Do you know what could happen if you really hurt her eye badly?

C: No.

Me: She might have trouble seeing or even go blind! That would be horrible wouldn't it?

C: You mean like how Jesus made Saul's eyes go blind?

Kinsley's Sesame Street 2nd Birthday Party

2011-12-15T10:44:00.000-05:00

So, I was a little obsessed with this Elmo cake. I took around 100 pictures of it. Yeah. Crazy. It turned out 110% better than I expected, though. I made a homemade chocolate cake and homemade peanut butter icing. It tasted great! And most importantly, Kinsley loved it.

Party favors for Kinsley's friends to take home.

Each bucket included "Dorothy" crackers, letter cookies to spell out the child's name, two rubber duckies, a silly straw, an Elmo or Cookie Monster party hat, and two coloring pages with the initial of the child's first name and the number of how old they are.

In this picture she's saying, "Mommy, is it time to eat this now?"

Staring it down...

I couldn't take a picture of Callan wearing his hat without him saying, "Cookies! Cookies!"

Pin the nose on Elmo was a big hit.

Everyone (minus Caleb) watching Kinsley's new Sesame Street DVD.

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY, KINSLEY!

2011-12-13T09:42:00.001-05:00

today's snapshot...birthday cake

2011-12-10T19:53:00.001-05:00

today's snapshot...the never-ending pile

2011-12-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

today's snapshot...finn trims the tree

2011-12-07T22:19:00.001-05:00

david and goliath

2011-12-07T14:53:00.001-05:00

Callan is obsessed with the story of David and Goliath. He got a DVD from Nana and Grandpa that has bible stories on it. He could sit and watch the 5 minute clip of David and Goliath over and over and over again if I would let him. (Actually, as I type this, Callan is watching the video and the D & G clip just came on. He grabbed my face and turned it towards the tv screaming, "Mommy, it's David! Look!")

Well, the other day we went to a church to their Drive Through Bethlehem production. We drove through the parking lot of this church and saw the Nativity story acted out. When we arrived at the church, some of the kids who were dressed up were out by the road waving to the cars. I pointed them out to Callan and Kinsley, saying that they were probably dressed as shepherds. Callan's reply was, "Mommy, I can't wait to see David and Goliath!" He was disappointed to hear that David and Goliath weren't part of the Christmas story.

On the same DVD, there is a story of Samson. In the video, it shows Samson playing tug-of-war to prove how strong he was. The other day I caught Callan pulling on a piece of fabric that Kinsley had in her hand. Kinsley started crying when Callan pulled it from her. I asked him why he was being mean to his sister. His reply was, "Mommy, I'm Samson! I'm strong!"

Nana and Grandpa come to visit

2011-12-04T15:36:00.001-05:00

today's snapshot...mother and son

2011-12-04T15:35:00.001-05:00

today's snapshot...early morning cartoons

2011-12-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

today's snapshot...Father and son

2011-12-02T21:55:00.001-05:00

'smores

2011-12-01T21:51:00.001-05:00

For a family night last week we made 'smores. It was a first for the kids, and they loved eating the chocolate. They especially liked it when the marshmallows caught on fire.

today's snapshot...how Gene's family spends Thanksgiving break

2011-12-01T21:04:00.001-05:00

I'll spare you all the really gross pictures and just leave you with this one. Each year his extended family kills 4-5 pigs and divides the meat up among everyone. This was the first year we joined in on the "fun." Even I helped cut up some pig. Our freezer is now full of pork tenderloin, ground sausage and the ham and bacon will be sent to us soon.

Thanksgiving activities

2011-12-01T20:50:00.001-05:00

For Thanksgiving Gene did some Native American activities with the kids. He had just finished a Native American unit with his 4th graders and brought some of his supplies home.

Gene helped the kids make a "buffalo skin" with Native American symbols on it.

Someone didn't like her headband.

We had some interesting additions to our annual Thanksgiving turkey this year. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star was one of them.

Grover joined in on the Thanksgiving festivities as well.

Daddy read a Thanksgiving book, too.

A few weeks prior I helped the kids make a turkey with colorful Popsicle sticks. Kins wanted to add one big eyeball and one small eyeball to hers.

Here's Callan's...

minnie vs mini

2011-11-29T00:21:00.001-05:00

I was changing Kinsley's diaper the other night right before Gene and I left for our date night. When I sat her up, she looked right at me in the sweetest voice and said, "Mommy, you look pretty." I almost cried! It was so sweet. I guess putting on a little make-up for date night really made a big difference!

Today at lunch I was eating some new crackers I got called Mini Triscuits. Callan asked me what I was eating and I said, "They are mini triscuits." A few minutes later I pulled out a cracker that was stuck to several other crackers, making it twice as big as the other mini triscuits. Callan replied, "Mommy, that must be a Mickey cracker."

Oh. My. Gosh. That mind of his never stops.

today's snapshot...monogrammed ornaments

2011-11-23T14:25:00.001-05:00

video: Caitlin singing to Finn

2011-11-22T16:54:00.001-05:00

video: Finn laughing

2011-11-22T10:44:00.001-05:00

video: rainy day activity

2011-11-22T10:39:00.001-05:00

today's snapshot...Indians

2011-11-18T21:36:00.001-05:00

I baby sat for a friend the other day. Her daughter asked if we could do a craft together, so I helped Callan and his friend make these...Girl Indian and Boy Indian.

our homeless child

2011-11-17T20:40:00.001-05:00

When Kins woke up from her nap yesterday, her hair do resembled that of a homeless child. There was no way she was letting me get a barette any where near her do either.

today's snapshot...new pjs

2011-11-17T20:37:00.001-05:00

everything's BIGGER in Texas

2011-11-17T14:38:00.001-05:00

You know what they say....everything's bigger in Texas! Big surprises, big meals, big cups full of gelato! Finn and I traveled to Texas this past weekend along with Larissa and Lauren to surprise Kelly for her birthday. Boy was she surprised! It was worth all the flying just to see her tear-up when Finn arrived at her doorstep on Saturday. Aunt Kel didn't see that one coming!!

Finn did great on his first airplane ride. Hardly a peep out of him. He slept most of the way there and back.

Just relaxing on the patio before church

Here are some picture of the gorgeous house that we stayed at while we were there. This is Kelly's in-law's house. They built it for others to enjoy and to host a lot of hospitality events...and enjoy it we did!

(I fell in love with their front door. Love the arch.)

HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY, KEL! haha

the kids

2011-11-11T08:34:00.001-05:00

today's snapshot...seven

2011-11-11T08:28:00.001-05:00

4 flowers...

plus 3 flowers...

equals 7 flowers

(for 7 years of marriage)

sayings

2011-11-10T15:38:00.001-05:00

I don't want to forget these cute sayings from my kiddos:

When they are looking for me around the house, Kinsley and Callan both say, "Mommy, where is you?"

Callan: Mommy, can I play Mario Wii today?

Me: No. Today is not a Wii day. Tomorrow is.

Callan: (said with a sly grin) Oh, to-MARIO? (only Callan would think of turning the word tomorrow into to-mario)

today's snapshot...3 months today

2011-11-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

today's snapshot...a beast

2011-11-08T13:59:00.000-05:00

This little guy is turning into a beast! I've begun putting some 6 month clothing on him...and he's not even 3 months yet!

tidbits about my girl

2011-11-07T15:09:00.001-05:00

Kinsley never ceases to amaze us. She won't be two until another month, but she is practically potty trained, has already transitioned out of her crib into a toddler bed (just last weekend), and speaks more fluently than some adults I know. She speaks in complete sentences, such as: "Mommy, I want some more milk in my cup, please." Sometimes I step back and think, "Did she really just say that?!"

She's also completely obsessed with Sesame Street. She screams in excitement whenever she sees one of the characters. "ELMO, MOMMY! ELMO! SUPER GROVER! LOOK MOMMY, IT'S SUPER GROVER!" Looks like we'll be having a sesame street themed birthday party this year.

She still sucks her thumb while stroking her hair. Just the other night she woke up crying in the middle of the night. I went up to check on her and said, "Kins, everyone is sleeping now. Daddy is sleeping. Mommy is sleeping. Callan is sleeping. And Fintan is sleeping. It's time for you to go back to sleep now. She whispered, "I want to touch your hair." So she touched my hair for a second, fell back in bed and went right back to sleep. So strange.

She's beginning to love pink, too. She loves to go around saying, "Where's my pink drink, Mommy?" (my mom got her a pink water bottle)

when you were my age...

2011-11-07T15:00:00.001-05:00

C: Mommy, when you were my age did you have these on your arm? (pointing to a freckle)

Me: Yep! I have some on my arm, too. They are called freckles.

C: Oh. I have hair growing on my arm, too.

Me: Yep, you'll see hair growing on your arm, too.

i really wish...

2011-11-04T22:16:00.000-04:00

...that this doll house would show up on my doorstep so that I could wrap it for Kinsley for her birthday (balloons and all). It's the cutest thing I ever saw. I'm trying to talk Gene into making one for me....errr, I mean her. He's not going for it.

I love these kiddos!

2011-11-02T21:02:00.000-04:00

Mario, Luigi, Tigger, a dedication and an anniversary

2011-10-31T09:17:00.002-04:00

This weekend we had some memorable moments. On Saturday night the kids went to the Harvest Party at our church and got to dress up in their Mario and Luigi costumes (Finn got to be Tigger). Kins refused to wear her mustache, but Callan couldn't wait to put his on. We also met Cinderella and a Lion along our way. :)

Of course, Callan was given the most gigantic balloon sword EVER, and we had the pleasure of carrying it around for the rest of the party.

This is our playgroup.

Trying to eat a donut on a string...

which is hard to do with a mustache on.

Then on Sunday Fintan was dedicated (along with 30 other children). My parents couldn't make it down for the service because of the freak snow storm this weekend. Luckily our good friends Lauren and Jeremy were able to be there to celebrate with us and watch the two older kids while we were on stage. Our kids love Miss Lauren and Mr. Jeremy! As soon as we got out of the car on Sunday at church, Kinsley started asking where Mr. Jeremy was.

Sunday was also our 7th Anniversary. We got to celebrate on Friday night by getting a baby sitter and going out to eat at Ruth's Chris. It's always nice to be able to eat a meal without taking a child to the bathroom in between bites. We're planning on going to see a play in Nov, too.

We also tried to relax last night while watching our wedding video while sipping a little wine and eating apple pie with homemade ice cream (at Gene's request). Unfortunately, Finn was having trouble going to sleep so I ended up nursing him while we watched, and then Kins woke up screaming with a stuffy nose. So, there we sat, two lovebirds in the midst of a nursing infant and sick 2 year old. Not exactly the romantic evening we had hoped for. By the time we got all the kids in bed, we were so tired that we chugged our wine down just so we could head to bed to go to sleep.

Oh how life has changed in 7 years. It was nice to listen to our wedding sermon and hear our vows again, though. It was full of good reminders of the basics of marriage.

happy 7 years, babe!

2011-10-30T09:20:00.000-04:00

today's snapshot...bubbles

2011-10-29T11:44:00.000-04:00

today's snapshot...coloring time

2011-10-28T10:55:00.000-04:00

today's snapshot...I LOVE HIM!

2011-10-27T06:00:00.000-04:00

11 weeks today

2011-10-26T11:55:00.001-04:00

Last night this little man slept from 9:30pm until 5am for the first time. He ate and then went back to bed until 9:30am. What a gift to Mommy! He woke up with a big blow-out in his diaper...the biggest one yet...but it was still worth it. Sleeping that many hours in a row was great.

He is also cooing and making noises like crazy this week. Kins and Callan love it! They ask him questions and he replies by cooing, which makes them both laugh like crazy. They say, "Mommy, he's talking to us!"

today's snapshot...7am: Is Daddy home from work yet?

2011-10-26T11:37:00.001-04:00

let's pray...and Mr. Potato Head

2011-10-26T10:20:00.003-04:00

A long time ago I heard a friend say that whenever they heard (or passed) an ambulance or fire truck, they would stop to pray for the people who needed rescued. I thought this was a great idea, so we started doing this with Callan a while back. Like most things, Kinsley picked up on this from her big brother and now loves to pray along with us, too. She often stops right in the middle of playing and says, "Let's pray." (and folds her hands to pray) It often catches me off guard, and I'm left wondering why she spontaneously wanted to pray...until I hear sirens and realize that an ambulance just drove by our house. That girl never misses a beat!

Today she came over to me and pointed to her foot (she was still wearing her footed pajamas). She wanted me to get something for her. Here, she put the pieces to her Mr. Potato Head down her pjs and they all got stuck at her feet.

She keeps me smiling!

for aaron dvds!

2011-10-25T13:48:00.000-04:00

Just found out that there is now an official For Aaron website, and you can purchase the For Aaron DVD from the site. All the proceeds from the For Aaron store go towards the memorial fund that is set up at our local high school in Aaron's name. The video has won several documentary awards already this past summer!

Go HERE to browse video clips, pictures or purchase a DVD or shirt. Thanks for helping the memory of my brother live on!

today's snapshot...2 months old & 13 pounds

2011-10-17T10:19:00.000-04:00

today's snapshot...some light reading

2011-10-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

"Mommy, turn on the light so I can read my book."

(notice his "book"...Super Mario Brothers Wii instruction book)

22 months

2011-10-13T06:00:00.000-04:00

Kinsley is just 2 months shy of being 2. A few things about this girl...

--She can hold her own! No worries about her being the only girl amongst two brothers. She won't be pushed around.

--She's in a whiny stage right now. We're working on that. We've been saying to her, "Kins, can you say that again using a kind voice and a smile?" She usually repeats her statement and gives us a huge cheesy grin at the end. It's a step in the right direction in teaching her what a joyful heart looks like!

--She is goofy! She loves to crawl through the cubby holes in the coffee table and hangout there. (see pic below)

--She loves to wear hats but hates to have me fuss with her hair at all. It's a miracle if I can get a barrette in her long bangs or a short pony tail. I'll often say, "Kins, let me make your hair look pretty and get your bangs out of your eyes." And she'll reply with, "No, Mommy! No pretty!" (while pushing her hair back into her eyes to emphasize her point)

--She is a messy eater. She has ruined many shirts the past few months. I don't know how she does it, but her bib usually ends up spotless while her shirt looks like it went through a food fight.

--She is obsessed with Sesame Street and Ernie, Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster and Grover. Fintan's diapers have these characters on them, and she has to pick out his next diaper for him while saying, "Mommy, Fintan wants Cookie Monster on diaper now." Then she shoves the diaper in Fintan's face and says, "Fintan, you like Cookie Monster?"

--She's sleeping MUCH better now. "Much better" means sleeping from 7pm-6:30am with no interruptions.

--She loves her baby doll now. She enjoys pulling (not pushing) her stroller with her doll in it around the neighborhood along with her friend Claire. Don't worry, she's not turning super girly on me, though. She pulled her doll around, stopped and sat down at the side of the road and pulled out some tools to play with that she was carrying in the stroller, too.

--She really loves playing with her play kitchen set. Today she brought me some soup on a plate. Yum!

--She still sucks that thumb of hers.

--She is not to be messed with when she wakes up from her nap. She needs a few minutes of Mommy-cuddle-time before running off to play. If I try to hold Finn during that time, she throws a huge fit.

ready for our walk to the farmer's market

2011-10-12T13:39:00.001-04:00

I love it that we live within walking distance to a Farmer's Market. On Saturday the weather was beautiful, so we loaded up the double stroller and took about a mile walk to get some fresh fruit and veggies. We picked up some apple cider, humongous apples, green beans for dinner, and a fresh donut and cookie to munch on while shopping. I earned that donut...I pushed two kids uphill in the stroller while Gene piggy-backed Callan a little ways. It was a great family outing!

today's snapshot...uh oh!

2011-10-12T13:29:00.000-04:00

Finn...2 months old today

2011-10-10T20:34:00.001-04:00

A few notes about this little guy...

--he still makes lots of grunting noises.

--he's smiling a lot more often now.

--he just had his first two skype sessions with aunt tawn and aunt kel

--he's night nursing times are at 9:30pm, 3am and 6am. Can't wait until he drops that 3am one!

the cold shoulder

2011-10-05T14:19:00.000-04:00

The other day driving in the car the kids and I had this conversation:

C: Stop touching my seat, Kinsley!!! (pushes her hand away)

K: (reaching over to touch Callan's seat)

C: STOP TOUCHING MY SEAT! (pushing her hand away)

K: (starts screaming while still trying to touch his seat)

Me: Callan, can you think of a better way to say that to Kinsley? Try, "Kinsley, please stop touching my seat."

C: Kinsley, please stop touching my seat.

Me: Now, Kinsley, please keep your hands to yourself. Callan doesn't want you to touch his seat. Can you please say, "Ok, Callan. I'm sorry."

K: (silent...staring straight ahead)

Me: Kins? Tell Callan you're sorry.

K: (still silent, looking straight ahead with her eyebrows lowered like she's ready to pounce on someone in anger)

Me: Kins?

K: (in a low angry voice) I'm not talking to him.

At this point I had to turn away so she didn't see me laughing. I never saw her give the cold shoulder before.

Yes, I have my hands full...

today's snapshot...Kinsley takes over Nana's house

2011-10-03T08:10:00.003-04:00

three and a half

2011-10-01T11:17:00.000-04:00

Today my oldest child is three and a half. Time is flying so fast. I want to pause life with my three children and stop time for a while. Yesterday our whole family was taking a walk. The two younger kids were in the double stroller. Callan was walking beside me and said, "Hold me, Mommy." I told him he was too big for Mommy to carry while we walked. His reply was, "Mommy, I'm not growing up." Some days I wish he wasn't...

He's come such a long way since a year ago. Last year at this time we were having lots of problems with him throwing tantrums (especially in public). Now I love taking him on errands with me. He's matured a lot in a year. (I keep telling myself that when I see Kins now going through a similar phase.)

These days he is still SO cuddly and hands-on. Meaning he loves to kiss his sister and brother every other second of the day and always be touching them. It drives his sister crazy.

He's also currently obsessed with Mario, as in Mario and Luigi from Nintendo. He's going to be Mario for Halloween, and his sister is going to be Luigi. Whenever he asks for a plate for dinner he always says, "I'll take the red plate like Mario." (Mario is red while Luigi is green.) His mind is constantly thinking, breathing, living Mario.

He loves to play Mario on the Wii...so much so that we created a calendar just for him where we put a picture of Mario on certain days so he knows when he can and cannot play Wii. It's become an idol that we've had to control. Daddy made a sign for him with the verse, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." --1 John 5:21 on it that he's memorized and has to say before playing Wii. We recite that verse often throughout the day.

Gene has a Mario and Luigi chess set. Callan insists on taking out a Mario piece to use as his marker while playing Candy Land. Any where that he can sneak in Mario into his playtime he does. He also has a Mario blanket that someone got for him.

When the kid finds something he loves, he becomes obsessed with it. What a crazy kid. I love him.

today's snapshot...1st black eye

2011-10-01T10:58:00.001-04:00

today's snapshot...Kins is comin' home!

2011-09-24T06:30:00.000-04:00

never a dull conversation...

2011-09-23T19:00:00.005-04:00

...from these two BFFs. Crack me up!!

today's snapshot...scissors + 3-year-old = confetti

2011-09-23T16:27:00.000-04:00

Serious?

2011-09-23T16:24:00.001-04:00

Callan is in a stage where he hates to color, write, draw, trace or doodle. This makes it pretty hard for me to do pre-school activities with him. I'm trying my hardest to tap into his "likes" to try to reel him in. He's REALLY into Mario, Yoshi and Luigi right now. I made some handwriting pages with these words on them to see if I could get him to trace the letters. After bribing him with a snack, he finally (reluctantly) traced each word once on the page. It wasn't his finest work, but I guess it was a start.

He was fooling around the whole time. I kept saying, "Callan, you need to be serious for a minute in order to trace these letters and stay on the dotted line." His response?? "Serious? What's serious mean, Mommy?" Yep. My boy is pretty much never serious. Unless of course you put a Wii controller in his hand and turn on Mario Brothers for him. Then he's REALLY serious.

Finn meets...Brent & Jen

2011-09-22T06:00:00.000-04:00

Brent taught with Gene at Weller Road a few years ago. They are both teaching at other schools now, but are still great friends. I've since gotten to know Jen, his wife, and have fallen in love with her, too! We love hanging out with them and their little daughter. Brent grew up in the next town over from me, so our schools were rivals. Of course we didn't know each other back then, but it's fun to talk to someone now who knows what mean when you say the words "Dr. Tom's Leather." :)

Finn meets...Miss Annabel

2011-09-21T06:00:00.001-04:00

Annabel was a girl who was friends with a lot of my friends, but I didn't know who she was. I heard about her kind personality through other friends and always wanted to meet her. Then Annabel and her husband joined our Care Group. They are now great friends of ours! We were blessed to have Annabel come visit us at the hospital to meet Finn.

Finn meets...Miss Lauren and Mr. Jeremy

2011-09-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

Sometimes our kids call them Miss Lauren and Mr. Jeremy, and sometimes they call them Aunt Lauren and Uncle Jeremy. That's because Lauren has been baby-sitting the kids for several years now, and when she got married to Jeremy, he joined in along with her! The kids love both of them. Callan has a particular attraction to Mr. Jeremy. When he knows they are coming to bb sit, he'll ask me all day long if Mr. Jeremy is here yet. Gene and I always look forward to the first Thursday of each month, knowing that these two will be coming over to watch the kiddos so we can get a date night in. Thanks, L & J!

Pinecone is in PA

2011-09-19T21:07:00.000-04:00

In order to serve me and Gene and give us a little break, my parents took Kinsley (affectionately called "Pinecone" by my dad because of her never-ending pinecone joke) to PA for the week. It's incredible how much easier it is just caring for 2 kids instead of 3! Callan is so independent and Finn sleeps a lot, so it's been a much needed break for me. Callan has enjoyed getting some much needed one-on-one attention from Mommy and Daddy. And it sounds like Kinsley has gotten a lot, too. My mom said she went to Sunday School with no crying (something she doesn't always do at our church!), made it through a grocery store run with barely a peep out of her, is still potty training herself, and has been sleeping well. Here's an email from Nana....

So... she went to bed at 8:00. Woke up at 3:00 calling for Daddy. I went over and changed her diaper and told her we were all still in bed sleeping and she needed to sleep some more. She laid down, no more crying and slept till 7:00.

She has eaten mac & cheese, mac & cheese, mac & cheese, and always asks for it. I have managed to get some fruit in her too, but not much else. She has pooped on the potty every time. She may start in her diaper, but tells me and we run to the potty. Won’t eat without a napkin....thanks Grandpa. She will be going to her first mammogram appt. in a few minutes. She now tells me where Daddy, Mommy, Callan & Fintan are instead of asking me where they are. She was real quiet when I was in the bedroom and when I came out, she was sitting looking at the 4th of July picture with everyone in it. She said there’s Daddy, Mommy, and Callan. They are at home.

A cute story so I don’t forget to tell you. She was sitting at the bottom of the steps this morning on the landing. I was in the bedroom and I kept hearing her say Nana I’m stuck, I’m stuck. I came out to see her velcro on her sneaker had come loose and was velcroed to the rug. She couldn’t move her foot. It was too funny. She really was stuck! I’m loving this time with her.

Gotta go, Mom

Here are some pics my dad sent to me...

Finn meets...Miss Tammy

2011-09-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

Our kids are always asking when Miss Tammy is going to come baby-sit them again! They love having her around...and so do we! She is always so eager to serve Gene and me by watching our kids while we slip away on a much needed date night or cook our family a delicious meal (including dessert!). Our family has been known to fight over who gets the last one of her chocolate chip pumpkin muffins. We've known Tammy for about 7 years now and are so grateful for her friendship with our family.

Finn meets...Aunt Tawn

2011-09-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

My sister, who lives in CT now, happened to be in PA visiting our parents the weekend after Finn was born. So, she took that opportunity to drive only 3 hours to meet Finn (instead of driving all the way from CT to MD). It was a short visit, but I'm so glad she got to meet him! Tawn and her husband are anxiously awaiting to adopt their next child, and we can't wait to meet that newest addition to the Klinger clan!

Moving on up...

2011-09-17T20:19:00.003-04:00

This week Renee and I have been talking about how to move the kids around now that we have 3. Callan has his brown and yellow, buffalo/Wyoming themed room and Kinsley has her yellow room with red and white polka dots. Fintan has been sleeping in a cradle next to our bed.

I told Renee we need to move Finn out of our room because although he rarely cries he makes some crazy noises; like someone drowning, stepping on a frog, kicking a pigeon, having constipational issues, and farting all at the same time.

So this week looked like this:

Tuesday: Kinsley in a pack-n-play in Callan's room - shut the door screamed
Wednesday: Kinsley asked to take her pillow and skunk stuffed animal to Callan's room. She slept until 6am
Thursday: She screamed at 11:30pm and wanted her room
Friday: Kinsley went to Nana and Grandpa's house for the week.

I did listen in on Thursday's Callan/Kinsley conversation:

Kinsley: "Callan what are you doing?"
Callan: "Kinsley don't stand, lay down"
Kinsley: "Hi Callan. See my skunk"
Callan: " Kinsley lay down it's time to sleep. Look the sun is going down. Caleb is asleep. Clair and Zoe are asleep and you need to go to sleep too."
Kinsley: " Okay Callan....hi Callan what are you doing..."

Finn meets...Miss Leslie

2011-09-17T14:30:00.003-04:00

Leslie has been kind of an "accidental" friendship for me. She used to work with Gene on the 4th grade team at Gibbs Elementary. Then she had her first child last October and quit teaching to be a stay-at-home mama. Ever since then, her and I have been keeping in touch. I joke that I've stolen her from Gene. She's a great friend, feeding me with scripture on those days that I need it most. She always jumps at the chance to drive from Frederick to Montgomery Village to serve our family. Our kids love her!

today's snapshot...little brother

2011-09-16T06:30:00.000-04:00

today's snapshot...worn out

2011-09-15T13:18:00.000-04:00

applesauce

2011-09-14T14:06:00.000-04:00

We're out of applesauce.

Kinsley has been reminding me for days that we're out of applesauce. She's asked for it during every meal and has been met with the response, "I know, Kins. We'll get some at the store very soon."

Finally today I figured that we needed to get out of the house, and we needed some basic items from the store: bread, milk, and of course applesauce.

So, I packed all three kids into the van and headed to the store. When we got there I piled them all into a shopping cart (Finn in his car seat, which was sitting in the front of the cart, Kins in the basket part of the cart, and Callan opted for riding under the cart on the underneath rack....YES, quite the sight!).

A lady who was walking into the store at the same time as we were pointed to me and said to her son, "That lady is my hero!" I laughed and told her that I was just THIS desperate to get out of the house.

After running into an old lady's cart because I couldn't see over my cart, and after having someone come after me with Finn's blanket that had fallen off him, and after finally purchasing our two bags of groceries, we made our way back to the van.

When we got home I fed the kids lunch, started nursing Finn, and put the grocery items away, including the glass jar of applesauce into the pantry. Just then I heard a crash and found the large jar of applesauce lying broken on the floor IN BETWEEN THE SLIDING PANTRY DOORS. Glass shot out everywhere, as well as applesauce. Callan came flying around the corner at that moment (with Kinsley on his heels) and I yelled, "STOP!!! Don't come in here!" at the top of my lungs. The poor boy.

So, not only did the applesauce fall and break, but it fell in between the doors. The only way for me to clean it up was to take the pantry door off. Forty-five minutes later the floor was cleaned up, the glass vacuumed up, and a very patient Finn was still waiting to be nursed.

What a morning! And you know what? We're still out of applesauce...

today's snapshot...storytime with Grandpa

2011-09-13T19:55:00.000-04:00

21 months

2011-09-13T09:25:00.001-04:00

Where'd you get that name?

2011-09-12T21:00:00.001-04:00

I had it all planned out in my mind. After having trouble with my delivery with Callan and not being able to introduce him to family until 3am, and after having to announce Kinsley's birth to family over the phone because they were unable to make it to her birth either, I was really excited to know that my mom and dad, Kinsley and Callan were all going to come to the hospital right after Baby #3 was born so that we could announce the gender/name to them all in person and see the excitement on their faces.

Well, the "quick" birth that everyone was promising me didn't happen so quickly. "This is your third child! You'll have this baby out before lunch!" said all the nurses. I told my mom to give the kids their afternoon nap and hopefully we'd see them all at the hospital soon after. Unfortunately, though, we forgot to tell Fintan our plans....and he took his grand 'ole time arriving into this world. My plans of seeing family right after he was born were quickly dashed as it crept closer and closer to midnight. Since he wasn't born until 12:31am, we'd have to announce his birth via phone.

When we started introducing Fintan (Finn) to friends and family, we were met with some funny stories when it came to telling others his name. Gene called his mom shortly after Finn was born to tell her that she had another grandson. Her response went something like this..."Are you sure his name isn't John or Peter, something easy to remember?"

When I called my parents (at 2:30ish in the morning) to tell them the news, my mom said, "What?? You'll have to spell that for me." She thought I said Clinton. After I spelled F-I-N-T-A-N, my dad thought I said S-I-N-T-A-N. He was terribly confused I guess as well. They both were groggy from being woken up in the middle of the night. My mom said she went back to bed then repeating his name over and over again in her mind as she fell to sleep. She was worried that she'd forget the name by morning.

Our elderly neighbors thought we said Vincent Huston. I still think they think we have a son named Vincent.

Many people have asked where we got the name from. Gene actually put the name "on his list" when we were hunting for names when I was pregnant with Callan. I quickly crossed the name off his list because I wasn't at all fond of it. Then when we were hunting for names for this pregnancy, I saw the name Finn on a blog that I was reading. I told Gene that the name (Fintan/Finn) had grown on me and that we could put it on the list again for Baby #3. We were hoping to have a boy so that we could use the name Fintan MICHAEL to honor my dad and brother.

I had never seen or heard of the name Finn before giving birth to Fintan. Ever since I gave birth to Finn, though, we've seen his name everywhere! Here are a few of our "Finn" sightings:

--I saw directions for a kid's craft on a blog the other day. The sample that they did for pictures for the blog post used the name "FINN" as the sample name.

--Gene's mom took the kids to the toy store to get a special toy after Finn was born. Guess what toy they came home with for Finn? A car from the movie Cars 2 named Finn McMissile.

--I was reading a Parenting magazine the other day and there was an article written about a celebrity whose son's name was Finnigan (Finn). Then I turned the page a few times and saw another article about how to dress your child like the characters on Glee...one of the characters being "Finn."

--Gene and I were watching Rookie Blue the other night and one of the guest characters on the show was named Finton (spelled with an "o" instead of an "a" like we spell it). This one made us do a double take!

--Today Gene took Callan to the library to get some books. One of the books that they came home with that was on display when you first walk into the library was called Finn Throws a Fit by David Elliot.

It's so cute hearing Callan and Kinsley introduce their brother to others. Whenever anyone comes to our house, they always go point to Fintan and announce, "This is Fintan! This is Fintan!" Callan will call him Fintan or Finn. Kinsley called him Finny at first, which was super cute to hear. Now he's strictly Fintan to her. If you call him Finn in front of her, she will correct you and say, "No, Fintan."

We all love you, Fintan Michael Huston!