Wisconsin, Don'tcha Know

Over the long holiday weekend we flew to visit Miles' family in Wisconsin, eat cheese curds, attend a wedding, and go to a Packers game at Lambeau Field. But the most exciting aspect of the trip for Finn was by far the travel to and from.

This was our first flight with him where we had to buy his own seat (sigh), but honestly it makes traveling a LOT easier when you don't have a babe climbing all over you and struggling to get comfortable. We brought his carseat on the plane which I absolutely recommend to anyone travelling with a little one. I know there are safety benefits to it, but the biggest benefit for us was that Finn was strapped down the entire flight! Hallelujah! He could see out the window because he was sitting up higher and was able to fall asleep both times which I think would have been harder for him had he just been sitting in the airplane seat. He really was a great little traveler, but when the plan was making its descent Finn got excited and loudly exclaimed, "Airplane going down!" which isn't exactly what you want to hear on a plane.

We had a layover in Dallas, but were able to find a smartecarte which made schlepping all the bags much easier. I actually had planed to buy something like this for the carseat, but ran out of time. Finn loved walking through the terminals because it meant a ride on the tram, and the escalators and we found a play area where he enjoyed "flying airplane so high."

While in Wisconsin we attended the wedding of a high school classmate of Miles. It was held at the same church Miles and I were married in and the church Daren's funeral was held in - in fact, the Priest who preformed the service was the same one who did Daren's funeral. It was bittersweet, but mostly sweet, to hear him speak again - I found it more comforting that anything. This was the first time Miles had been back to Wisconsin since Daren was killed.

Finn was very well behaved during the mass (thanks to a back hoe on loan from his cousin). At one point a baby cried when it was very quiet and Finn felt the need to point out "baby sad. baby crying," but it just made for some laughter around us.

The next day we pawned Finn off on his Aunt and went up to Green Bay for a Packers game. Thanks to some tickets my father-in-law got through work we were able to enjoy the game from the comforts of a suite, which made the painful outcome of the game, and the fact that our third string Quarterback was put in, a lot more bearable. The last time we went to a game at Lambeau was in December of 2008 so I know how cold and uncomfortable it can get in the stadium - not something I would have enjoyed as much eight months pregnant.

Finn also saw snow for the first time. He's hit or miss with wearing hats, but I think he enjoyed how warm this hat kept him because he wouldn't even let me take it off in the car. Oh and he got to take a picture by a dump truck. Because of course.

We left Wisconsin when it was NINETEEN degrees out. As I type this it is currently EIGHTY degrees in Texas. So no big shocker that Finn got sick promptly upon return and has been fighting a nasty little cold the past few days. But he seems to be on the mend and I if given the chance, he'd hop on an airplane again in a heartbeat. This trip concludes our travelling for 2013. Time to incubate, catch up on projects around the house, and hopefully get ready for a very exciting December.

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Happy Veterans Day

This picture was taken in 2008 when Miles and I were in Afghanistan on our first (my only) deployment. We were lucky enough to see each other two or three times throughout the year. 

My service on active duty ended in 2012 when this little guy became my new boss:

He can be a really demanding boss at times, but it was a great career move. 

We found out a few weeks ago that our next move will be back to Georgia, but this time we are headed to Savannah. Miles, mostly likely, will be making the military a career though that's certainly not set in stone yet. But if so, at least he pulls off a uniform well. Why hello, handsome:

This Veterans Day I think of all those I was lucky enough to meet during my time in the Army, I think of Miles' brother Daren who gave the ultimate sacrifice and is missed every day, of all those from my family who have served, and I especially think of all those still deployed in harms way and wish them a safe return home. May they come home to as much love and excitement as shown here: 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/chelseamarshall/tear-jerking-moments-of-soldiers-reuniting-with-their-dog?s=mobile

For the record, I wish I recorded it, but when Miles returned from his two more recent deployments, Roscoe's reaction was similar to these - Enjoy, and Happy Veterans Day.

Cale and Finn's Nursery

The plan is to move Finn to a big boy bed in the next couple weeks. It's strange to picture him in a new room, but also exciting. I also plan on re-decorating the nursery and when I get around to finishing both rooms, I will share how they turned out, but first I wanted to share what the nursery looked like originally.

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Miles deployed when I was six months pregnant with Cale. Before he left, we ordered the nursery furniture and he put it all together so that I wouldn't have to tackle it later on:

My sister came out to visit when I was about eight months pregnant and helped me with some more decorating, to include hanging this cross stitch my grandmother made when I was born:

The bedding that I had ordered worked nicely with the cream furniture and cross stitch:

I made a bulletin board to match the bedding, hung a few more things on the wall, and got the room all ready for the little boy we so hoped would live there:

Before we even left the hospital, Miles had Daren remove all baby things from the common areas of the house, put them in the nursery, and shut the door. And so for nearly a year, the room sat like this - a total mess of things somewhat packed and stored away:

With a couple weeks remaining in my pregnancy with Finn I summoned the courage to get the room ready once again. My reasoning was simply that I had prepared for Cale, and felt Finn deserved the same, but it was really hard. I remember crying when we hung new curtains because I thought it may be a waste of time. I remember how slowly I unpacked the tupperware, reminiscing about each thoughtful and loving gift Cale received, and how everything still smelled like Dreft.

We made a few changes to the room, but not many. I framed and hung the sketch of Cale, purchased a glider, and added a more touches, like the small frame below Cale's sketch that reads "Wherever you go, Whatever you do, May your guardian Angel watch over you," and the frame with Cale's maternity picture and one with Finn's ultrasound.

And then we waited, and hoped, and by the most amazing stroke of luck, we got to add one final touch to the room:

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Happy Halloween!

Gooooo Team!

This clever idea was 100% stolen from my sister-in-law when she was pregnant with my nephew. Even the cute WI Basketball player outfit was borrowed from her. I tried putting the head band on Finn a week ago and he wanted nothing to do with it, but tonight when I put it on and said basketball players wear them, he was all about it! He pointed at every basketball hoop we passed while trick or treating and said "Finley play basketball." Sorry kid, not in your genes to be a good basketball player - but you can sure dress up like a cute one!

This was a fun Halloween. Last year Miles was training and Finn was too little to really get in to it, but this year he was pretty excited. He went trick or treating with his cousins which was special - so cute to see the little boys go from door to door and say trick or treat. Finn kept saying "more candy" in between houses and hung on to that pumpkin long after the trick or treating ended. Our little basketball player called it a night a bit earlier than his cousins, who like their Aunt, know better than to pass up free candy!

Halloween has made me especially excited for Christmas - experiencing the holidays through the eyes of a child is pretty amazing. Makes me wish we would have already experienced it with Cale, but so grateful we get to with Finn.

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Tuesday Blues-day

I woke up nauseous several times last night (in addition to the normal wake ups from pain associated with the arduous process of rolling from one side to the other) which resulted in very little sleep. When I don't get much sleep I'm a total crab-apple. So this day didn't get to a good start. It was gloomy and misty, yet still hot and in the mid 80's so the weather was also a total downer.

I had an OB appointment that did go very well in regards to the baby's well being. It was my first non stress test and baby was active and practicing breathing movements during the ultrasound and looked and sounded nice and healthy. The only downside from the appointment was that I was emotional and didn't feel my OB coddled me as much as I needed. Sometimes, especially when emotional and tired, I need extra coddling. 

Then I came home to Finn who is, I'm pretty sure, getting his two year molars. As a result he was also a whiny, emotional crab-apple. 

I have a library book due today that is not finished and I'm especially annoyed at myself for this as I already renewed it once.

So anyway, today was kinda blagh. 

The upside to this day is that Miles' mom sent a Halloween package which included this gem:

Yes, as a freaking KINDERGARTNER, Miles was not only demanding, but crazy smart enough to know the ins and outs of the skeletal system. 

Anyway, not much of a blog post today, but it's all I've got. Hope your Tuesday was less blagh.