Spring Skiing

While we've had some temps in the 70s, we've also still had snow storms rolling through.  And while at times that feels a bit on the depressing, it has made for some pretty spectacular spring skiing.  Fresh powder included.  Conor sneaks out of work early (real early) the day after a dumping to take Liam into the mountains.  Two weeks ago it all seemed to click for him.  He takes instruction so well and is so eager to improve.   We are some proud proud parents!

After beers & hot cocoa, they were back down the mountain and ready to play outside 'til sunset.  Skis to sandbox.  Talk about the perfect night.  

Soft(sie) as Butter

When Natalie reached out to me nearly a year ago, I was immediately excited about her new business.  I was near the end of my pregnancy with Finn and so ready to be back in the land of soft & tiny baby clothes.  I didn't know it then, but that baby I was carrying was going to have some serious eczema issues, and high quality clothing would became quite important to me.

So let's talk about the Softsie!  It's the most adorable pair of footed pajamas ever!  But I use the term pajamas tentatively, because if this little sleeper is clean, Finn is wearing it.  Day or night.  But especially on those stay home all day and be cozy kind of days.  The fabric is infused with aloe vera, jojoba oil, and vitamin E, making it perfect for Finn's skin.  It is so buttery soft.  I want a blanket version of the Softsie.  And I want a whole wardrobe of Softsies for Finn (and me!).  Seriously, I'm obsessed.

And can we talk about this beautiful mint color?!  Quite possibly my favorite color ever.  And it looks absolutely amazing on my little strawberry blond.  Not biased here or anything.  I will say that the Softsie is a bit of a splurge, but its the perfect treat for your babe.  It's also the perfect gift!  Every mother would love to have her baby feeling oh so soft all the time.  This may be my new go-to new mama gift!

If you haven't already, please go check out Softsie!  You would be supporting a fellow mother, a momprenuer.  I love to shop small and try to make a big effort to do so more frequently.  I have noticed that the hand me downs from Liam that have held up on the most, are by far the high quality items.  The things I splurged on. Congrats on your new endeavor Natalie! I was provided a Softsie free of charge, but all opinions and shares are completely my own.

Easter 2016

We had a pretty spectacular Easter!  We may have finished dying eggs just minutes before midnight the night before, but we got it done.  We took the natural dyes route again, and red cabbage is by far my most favorite.  Such a beautiful shade of blue.  We planted jelly beans that grew into suckers, and left the boys' baskets by the front door (per Liam's request).  Surely the "Easter Egg Bunny" would find them there.  As I filled their baskets late that evening, I was filled with joy (and wine!).  Experiencing the holidays as a parent is almost just as sweet as it was as a child.  I love all of the magic and wonder.

The whole family slept in, so I told Liam I needed to "make sure" the Easter Bunny came before he bounded out of bed in search of his basket.  Really this just meant that I sprinted downstairs and hid our hard boiled eggs in the backyard as quickly as possible.  Per usual, Finn was just along for the ride as Liam ran down the stairs whispering about the Easter Bunny as if he were still in our house.  The baskets were a big hit, with Liam most excited about the dinosaur eggs he had been asking for.

The big event, was the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt.  I got together with the other moms the day before to stuff far far too many eggs (also wine, also candy eating).  But seriously, the number of eggs outnumbered the amount of hiding places by far.  Some were neatly hidden, but many were eventually just scattered in the grass.  Perfect for the little ones.  Kids 5 and under were given a head start, and Liam jumped up and was the first off!  He scored tons of eggs, and I've been raiding his candy stash all day.

After the hunt, we brunched on eggs benedict; made dairy free by Conor (coconut oil instead of butter, and I could barely tell the difference).  We busted out the Waterford crystal for some morning rosé bubbly and felt all sorts of fancy.  I really need to drink from a massive champagne glass far more often!  And then it was time for church.  And while my kids are some of the most well behaved during mass on every other Sunday... holiday masses are not for them.  Maybe it's the sheer amount of people, or the sugar highs, but we have a hard time holding it together.  So more bubbly was needed immediately after.

Naps all around, and then I started cooking our Easter feast.  Glazed ham with a raisin sauce.  Every single year, and it will never change.  While Conor finished up dinner prep, I drove to the airport to pick up Nana!  Yes, my mama is here for over a week!  I just took a big sigh of relief and the relaxation is already setting in.

my dress // bowties
I hope everyone had just as wonderful an Easter as our family!!!

Stitch Fix #13

Just when I thought Stitch Fix was back on track, I had another disappointment.  I feel like a lot of the blame lands on my stylist, who somehow manages to not understand my style or body at all.  It's a bit frustrating, since I love tons of Stitch Fix items that I see on others and on Pinterest.  I actually contacted customer service after this fix, because it seemed so far off from what I requested, and my note from my stylist was not personalized at all.  Customer Service completely agreed with me, so they are allowing me to have a re-do.  I really do love the Stitch Fix concept, so I'm going to give them at least one more try (I think I have said this before, and I keep coming back...).  But for now, my terrible terrible fix.  I asked for casual clothes and lots of blush pink... Spoiler Alert: no blush and not too casual in my opinion.  Here we go...

Le Lis Columbus Pullover Knit Top

This sweater was soft, and I liked the oatmeal color.  But the lace was super strange to me (I am not a fan of mixed material pieces).  But the biggest issue was the length... Another short top!  I have a long torso, and this seems to be problematic all the time.

- and-

Kut From the Kloth Dayna Skinny Jean

I usually have my profile set to not send pants, but I decided to mix it up for a fix.  These jeans were super super stretchy (which I don't like), and I really hated the wash.  A little dull & light for my liking.

Crescent Windsor Bell Sleeve Tunic

Not my style.  Not at all.  I actually felt like this piece was super frumpy.  I think my stylist was going for Boho, but no no.

Alice Blue Guthrie Side Split Blouse

This was a pretty dressy blouse in my opinion, not casual.  The side slits were strange, you would have to wear a tank top underneath unless you want those sweet love handles showing.  And the print was something my grandma would have loved.  

Paper moon Schmidt Crew Neck Blouse

So so so so short.  Also, more mixed material happening here.  Also, crazy busy fabric that makes my head hurt.  Can you tell I hated it?

Pretty exciting stuff huh?  Next month better just wow me!  I know my last few posts have made Stitch Fix sound super amazing (...crickets...), but I do love the service.  And I will say, their Customer Service is top notch.  My fixed arrived while I was unexpectedly out of town for a funeral, so they gave me a big grace period to return my items.  I really appreciated that!  If you are even thinking about trying it, do it!  If nothing else it's super fun!  If you use any of my links, I get a nice little kick back, so I can keep the fixes coming.  It's always appreciated!  

Montana

Our trip to Montana was for somber reasons, yet it was some of the best family time.  While Conor's grandfather's passing was not a surprise, it was still a deeply emotional time.  Conor & he had quite an incredible bond.  I too had grown quite fond of him on our many huckleberry adventures as well as through our long chats over a glass of red wine (which of course had to wait until after 4 o'clock).  This has been the first big family loss that Conor & I have had since being married, and it was important to us both that the boys & I were there to support Conor as well as the whole Keenan family.

We were able to spend an entire week with family.  Remembering.  Laughing.  Crying.  Saying goodbye. We had plenty of uninterrupted family time that made the trip so special.  Seeing our boys with their cousins, aunts/uncles, and grandparents is always such a joy.  Conor's sister Sara is so so helpful with Liam & Finn.  Liam in particular just adores her.  She was on the ground building legos, playing cars, & even put him down for a nap one day (which is just completely unheard of)!  And even though Finn is all sorts of "stranger danger" right now, he would let her and his uncle Ryan show him all the animal heads on the wall of the family restaurant over and over (and over...) again. Deer! Elk! Bear! Pheasant! Fish!

We enjoyed gorgeous sunsets, a ridiculous amount of deer, & bottle after bottle of red wine.  I wasn't sure how much of the adult conversations Liam would pick up on, or how far we would need to dive into the death conversations with him.  He didn't ask much until the day of the funeral, and even then his questions were few, and he was satisfied with simple answers.  The cemetery was located in a beautiful part of Bigfork with the most gorgeous view of the mountains.  True Big Sky country!  Sure there was plenty of sadness in the air; but with all the great grandchildren running down hills, chasing one another, and giggling like crazy, it was a fitting setting to see Conor's grandpa's legacy live on while saying that final farewell.  I loved how the presence of children brought the whole experience full circle and even a few needed smiles snuck between tears to those watching.

It was hard to leave, especially knowing how things will feel just a bit different the next time we return. But Montana sure is an incredible place to visit, and we can never stay away from family for too long.  Not to mention that I simply could not get enough of the amazing scenery and photo opportunities!  When we are back, it will be party boating weather on Flathead Lake, and we cannot wait!

First Day of Spring

We were supposed to have this crazy busy weekend; I had been looking forward to it all week.  Two toddler parties for Liam, and then I was hosting a blessingway for one of my very best friends.  Well surprise surprise, our whole family came down with stomach flu.  Yes, we in fact are sick again.  It was absolutely awful.  I felt so sad watching my poor boys go through it, and then was terrified for myself when I felt the symptoms coming on.  Fortunately, Conor didn't get it until about 12 hours after me, so he was able to take care of the boys while I was out.  It broke my heart to hear Finn crying for me half the night and not being capable of caring for him one bit.
However, pity party is over.  Today was the first day of Spring, and we were all feeling just good enough to get outside in the sunshine.  70 degree weather was the perfect start to this season!  My tulips are blooming, my perennials growing back, and my garlic has even sprouted.  I can't wait to tackle a bunch of yard work next weekend.  And conveniently enough, my mom will be in town to help us get started on the garden per usual!

We picnic'd.  Rode bikes, scooters, wiggle cars.  Had a dance party.  And tossed around the football.  Liam has quite the arm on him already!  However, catching...not so much.  He still seems to think the ball is going to attack him every. single. time.  We're working on it.  Finn is Liam's biggest fan.  He crawls after him as fast as possible (a bear crawl since he doesn't like his knees on the sidewalk), and claps for him nonstop.  He'll also wave enthusiastically at every person & car going by, but usually with a good 5 second delay.

A good start to Spring indeed! However, I'm worried Finn is allergic to grass (grumble, grumble)...  Anyone else's baby have this issue?  I would love any suggestions on how to help him!

Finn: 10 Months Old

I feel like this month was a bit of a bust.  Finn was sick nearly the entire time!  But now he is healthy, and our sweet snuggly boy is back.  He loves to play like he's bashful and buries his head into my chest over and over again.  He is so incredibly huggable, I just scoop him up for bear hugs all day long.  Liam also loves to get in on the hugging action.  Finn tolerates most of Liam's physical affections, but he would probably prefer a tad less hand holding, wrestling, and random touching of his neck all day long.  Liam has a thing for his neck.  It's weird.  He still seems to be strawberry blond, but as his hair gets longer & thicker it's not standing up nearly as much.  Every where I take Finn people are either commenting on his cheeks or his hair.  But he really wins you over with his sly grin (that you must work hard for) and snuggly nature.

Eating: While sick he didn't eat any food (just breastmilk), so I feel like we took a big step back with BLW.  Pomegranate seeds & blueberries seem to be the favorites.  He also goes crazy for raspberries, but wow are those messy.  So often we are on the go, that I try to keep his foods a bit more clean.  Ridiculous, I know.

Allergies:  We are finally adjusted to the dairy free life.  Finn's eczema had really cleared up, but then flared up during our trip to Montana.  I didn't knowingly eat any dairy, but since we were eating out so often, I'm sure there was hidden butter in all sorts of foods.  Damn the butter!  Finn also reacted to his very first round of antibiotics.  We're hoping that he is not allergic to amoxicillin, but we will definitely be very very cautious the next time he has to take any!

Sleeping:  There were a few rough nights when Finn was super sick, but then all of sudden he started sleeping much better.  And the best part, Conor could handle most of his night wakings.  He didn't seem to want to nurse during the night.  So instead of feeding him 4-5 times a night, I would nurse him to sleep and then not nurse again until anywhere between 3-6am.  It was amazing.  Conor still woke with him a few times a night, but this felt like such a nice change for me.  I'm not sure this magical month of sleep with last though.  Finn is currently teething and back to wanting to nurse nearly all night long.  We'll see what happens in the next week or two.  I'm practically begging for him to be a better sleeper than Liam was!

Likes: Throwing things.  Favorite pastime by far.  He throws something, anything, watches it fall and bounce.  And then repeats.  He chews (sucks) on his toes.  Points at everything.  Will give himself kisses in the mirror.  Dances (mostly head bobbing and some arm shaking).  And has a new found love for animals.  He gets so so excited at everything from a bird to a mounted animal head (we saw lots in Montana).  He also loves dogs, but not as much up close as he gets a little nervous. I can't wait for our next trip to the zoo; I'm sure it will quickly become a favorite place just as it is for Liam.

Milestones:  No major milestones unless you include his first trip to the ER.  Finn is so close to drinking from a straw (I think he has figured it out once or twice).  And most excitingly, I think he will be walking soon!!!  Dare I say by next month?  He will let go of something and stand on his own for a good 5 seconds, but then drops to the ground before trying to take a step.  Liam walked at 10.5 months, and while I don't think Finn will do it that soon (especially since we are nearly there), I don't think he will be far behind.  I love having early walkers, so I'm looking forward to this new stage.

Nicknames: Finnier, Finnaroo, Finner, Finny, & Huckleberry.

Finn is far fiestier than Liam ever was and always knows what he wants.  He gets huge alligator tears when he's sad, even if it's just over the piece of paper that was taken out of his mouth.  His love language is most definitely physical touch.  I've said it a ridiculous amount of times already, but he is the best snuggled.  And with him being so sick, this was really the month of snuggles.  I can't complain too much.  Can't wait to see if Finn is fully mobile next month!

Weekend Recap

It felt so good to be back home this weekend.  I still feel like I'm playing catch up, but I know we will quickly fall back into our normal routine.  This time of year always leaves me wanting to clean & organize all. the. things.  Yet, I'm a mom of two...  So that's not really happening all the much.  But the desire is there!  Our weather has really warmed up, so my bulbs are sprouting, and I'm quickly realizing how much yard work we have ahead of us.  I'm excited to get our gardens ready for planting, and pick out this season's crop.  And of course, oogling all the pretty flower options!  And oogle I may, but I'm sure we'll end up with purple and white flowers just like every year past.  I just can't quit those colors!
And daylight savings!  Can we talk about that?!  I love it!  Finn typically wants to go to bed early every single night, so he's always a hot mess during dinner.  Sometimes we even put him to bed beforehand just so that I may eat without shoveling in food as fast as possible while the baby screams.  So I was super uper hopeful that with the time change, Finn would be able to stay awake until at least 8pm...  Well, we had a victory Sunday night!  Finn made it to 8:20.  We had a nice family dinner, we played outside, & we put the boys to bed at the same time.  I can't wait for more calm nights like that one.  I always think it's easiest to let my kids stay on their internal clock, so instead of fighting with daylight savings, I just bump their bedtimes an hour later so that it feels like the same time to them.  We are typically outside until the sun goes down in the summer, so naturally our kids stay awake longer.  Win win for everyone!
Enough rambling, here's a little peek at our weekend:

 Evenings spent outside.  Both boys were happy, & I had two hands available for cocktails.  We currently have ginger beer on tap (new recipe), so Moscow Mules were the drink of choice.

One terrible night of sleep thanks to both boys, left me all sorts of grumpy.  We almost skipped the St. Patrick's Day parade, but then I knew I would suffer from some serious mom guilt all day...  We booked it downtown and arrived just in time.  It was worth it and the grumpies went away!

 Conor & Liam went to the Real vs. Sounders game.  I reluctantly gave up my ticket for a nap with Finn instead, because did I mention the terrible sleep?!  Someone is teething...

And Conor & Liam had another special afternoon of skiing!  Conor lost his Instagram Husband status by forgetting his phone in the car and snagging no pictures or videos.  Did it even happen?!
And Monday, I'm pretty happy to see you... this should be a good week!  My bracket is ready to go; hello March Madness!  And my mouth is already watering just thinking about the corned beef & cider I'll be tossing back on St. Patrick's Day!